Mauritius Deputy Prime Minister and Tourism Minister, Xavier Luc Duval has disclosed that it was targeting Nigeria and other African nations to help sustain growth in tourism revenue which is expected to reach almost 10 per cent this year.
According to statistics, the country received 114,796 visitors from Africa in the first five months of this year, accounting for 22 per cent of the total. Of the visitors from Africa, more than half came from the nearby island of Reunion, and 37,168 from South Africa, the Port Louis-based agency’s latest data show.
According to Duval, “Africa represents a huge potential for Mauritius, which we need to seize. There are people who are very rich and there is a middle class that is growing on the continent. We are doing well in the South African market, but there are many other countries that interest us, like Nigeria or the entire West African region.”
“Tourism in Mauritius is one of the biggest generators of foreign-exchange revenue for the $12 billion economy. The sugar- and textile-exporting nation expects to earn 55 billion rupees ($1.6 billion) from foreigners who visit the island this year, compared with 50.2 billion rupees in 2015, when it received 1.2 million visitors.
“Arrivals from Europe currently account for 58 percent of visitors, mainly from France, the U.K. and Germany. The number of visitors from Europe is expected to be boosted further by Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s introduction last month of non-stop flights to the island by its low-cost budget unit EuroWings.
“The country also plans to draw more visitors from Asia. Air Asia Bhd, a Malaysian low-cost carrier, is expected to begin flights to Mauritius in October, and could bring about 50,000 passengers a year to the nation’s shores,” Duval said.
This may help offset a decline in arrivals from China, after the decision by China Southern Airlines Co. to discontinue its flights to the country. The number of tourists from China dropped 3.9 per cent to 32,828 in the January-to-May period.
