376,556 tourist arrivals in 2022 as compared to 3,225 during the same period in 2021. The figures revealed by Statistics Mauritius on Monday 29 August are encouraging for the vision of the Ministry of Tourism. The revenue for the first six months of 2022 is estimated at Rs 25.2 billion as compared to Rs 15.2 billion in 2021.
Our biggest market remains France with 93,446 tourists against 601 in 2021, the UK with 55,717 tourists against 87 last year, South Africa with 42,022 tourists this year against 137 in 2021, Germany moved from 94 to 39,834 tourists this year, Reunion Island brought us 16,490 tourists against 51 in 2021, India took us 15,059 in 2022 against 397 in 2021 and Switzerland 9,130 tourists in 2022 against 58 in 2021 The total of these major markets is 271,698 tourists for these first 6 months against 1425 in 2021. These tourists visited Mauritius mainly by air with 375,246 tourists in 2022 against 3,047 in 2021. 1,310 tourists took the sea route this year against 178 last year. Thus, the performance of our main traditional markets represents 72% against 44% in the first half of 2021. The occupancy rate in our hotels is estimated at 51% in 2022 against 9% in 2021.
According to Statistics Mauritius, Mauritians have also travelled a lot in this semester, almost ten times more with 80,168 departures against 8,200 in 2021. The most popular destinations for Mauritians are the United Arab Emirates, France, Reunion and the United Kingdom.
