According to the latest figures released by Statistics Mauritius, tourist arrivals in Mauritius saw a clear increase in the month of October, with 54,434 tourists visiting our island in October, compared to 9,460 in the nine months from January to September 2021.
This revival of the tourism sector follows the full reopening of the borders to vaccinated visitors, as of October 1, 2021. According to the authorities, all the figures are green, whether it is the number of flights at the airport of Plaisance, or the number of tourists returning to the country. Thus, between October 1 and October 31, 2021, 296 aircraft landed in Mauritius, against 832 in October 2019. In total, in October 2021, 67752 passengers set foot on Mauritian soil, among which, 9275 were Mauritians, and 58 477, foreigners.
Of these 58,477 foreigners, 54,434 were tourists. “The number of tourists in October 2021 has systematically increased,” said the Council of Ministers on Friday, November 12.
Moreover, the average length of tourist stays in the island was 11.2 nights in October 2021, compared to 9.8 in October 2019.
The summer period in Mauritius is an opportunity for the hotel sector and other sectors of the tourism economy to make their turnover. In 2020, tourism revenues between January and October were estimated at around Rs17.1 billion, of which Rs10.9 billion was realized in January and February. This year, in 2021, according to figures released by Statistics Mauritius, tourism revenues have dropped sharply, with only a little over Rs1 billion realized from January to August. September and October figures are not yet available, but there is likely to be an increase in October, according to the latest count of tourist arrivals in October, which was 54434 arrivals.
Of the arrivals in October 2021, 47826 are from Europe, mainly from France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland.
The authorities have placed great emphasis on health precautions. Thus, from October 1 to 28, some 143 passengers went to quarantine centers. Of these, 66 were Mauritians and 97 were foreigners. As of October 31, the number of passengers testing positive for COVID-19 upon arrival at the airport was 68, or 0.1% of the total number of arrivals.
Representatives from 106 hotels and 136 travel management companies have completed training on health protocols. 1,140 cab drivers have already been trained on these health protocols between October 8 and 17. 82 are airport-based cab drivers and 1058 operate for hotels.
