Tourism in Mauritius

In Mauritius, tourism is one of the most important pillars of the economy contributing significantly to economic growth and has been a key factor in the overall development of Mauritius. In the past two decades tourist arrivals increased at an average annual rate of 9 %.

 

Mauritius is predominantly a holiday destination for beach-resort tourists. It possesses a wide range of natural and man-made attractions, enjoys a sub-tropical climate with clear warm sea waters, attractive beaches, tropical fauna and flora complemented by a multi-ethnic and cultural population that is friendly and welcoming. These tourism assets are, its main strength, especially since they are backed up by well-designed and run hotels, and reliable and operational services and infrastructures.

 

The National Tourism Policy emphasizes low impact, high spending tourism. Selective, up-market, quality tourism is favored, and although such tourism is not the only type, it constitutes the major segment of the tourists who stay in high class hotels.

 

The Mauritius Government expects 2 millions tourist arrivals per annum by 2015.So, a new strategy of development has been defined called “opening of the sky” marketing action plan to develop new markets ,ambitious programme of building with the increase of the number of rooms and the launching of numerous Integrated Resort Scheme and the organization of international cultural events. Tourism to Mauritius has experienced consistent growth in recent years. The number of international tourist arrivals increased from 422,463 in 1995 to more than 788 00 in 2006.

 

It is likely therefore that the tourism sector will continue to grow in coming years. The developed infrastructure, access to cost effective and educated labor, attractive investment incentives and existing linkages with industry representatives in European Union (EU) and Eastern and Southern Africa put Mauritius in an excellent position to take advantage of growth opportunities.

 

One of the highlights of Mauritius tourism sector is the high quality of hotels and excellent service at reasonable price. Some of the prominent hotels in Mauritius are Le Sofitel, Legends, Le Touessrok and Belle Mare Plage. The hotel industry in Mauritius is a very well organized industry. The industry has constantly upgraded the quality of accommodation to cater to the demands of the International traveler.

 

Mauritius is today recognized as an up-market travel destination for holiday-makers from all parts of the world. The tourism sector offers a wide range of luxury beach hotels ranked among the best in the world.