Tag Archives: Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority

Mauritius is aiming to attract 1.2 lakh Indian tourists in 2020, up from 88,000 people expected to visit the island nation this year, a senior official from that country said. At a recent four-city India roadshow organised by Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), Arvind Bundhun, Director, MTPA, said that 80,000 tourists from India had visited his country last year. “In the last four years, Mauritius tourism has seen double digit growth, with Indian tourists contributing significantly to this. We are looking to attract 1.2 lakh Indian tourists to our country in 2020,” Bundhun said. He said that Mauritius has positioned itself as an affordable luxury destination which offers tourists different activities like golf, spa, sky diving, zip lining among others. “In order to create more visibility, we are inviting celebrities and top CEOs from India to Mauritius. Special packages are being offered to promote incentive trips,” Bundhun informed. He added that the wedding segment remains an attractive niche, with a lot of newly-wed Indians choosing Mauritius as a honeymoon destination. Bundhun said that Bollywood was also finding Mauritius attractive with its film promotion policy, adding that some Indian movies had been shot there recently. “Between October 17-19, the Mauritius Film Development Corporation is organising cinema week and a number of Bollywood stars have been invited there. The government has put in place special incentives to shoot movies in our country,” he said.

Mauritius tourism held the Delhi leg of its roadshow at The Imperial, New Delhi recently, which was well-attended by the trade community in the capital. Speaking on the sidelines of the roadshow was Kevin Ramkaloan, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), who said that India is an important market for them, and they are expecting the visitor numbers to rise from the country. “India has been amongst the top 10 markets for us. We have been in this market for the last 20 years. It gave us 80,000 pax last year, but we feel that in the last two years, it should have reached 100,000 pax. We are convinced to reach that mark by 2018 for sure,” he claimed.

Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority will conduct a five-city roadshow in India from February 27 to March 4, 2017,  covering Chandigarh, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The roadshow will enable Indian trade partners in each city to interact with Mauritian delegation comprising airlines, resorts, attractions, DMCs, among others. Vivek Anand, Country Manager, MTPA India, said “We are conducting this Roadshow so that the Indian tour operators, MICE companies and wedding planners learn more about the destination and have an opportunity to meet and explore ways to collaborate with the Mauritian suppliers”.

As per the statistics shared by Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), 72,145 Indian tourists visited Mauritius in 2015. This is an increase of 18 per cent as compared to 61,167 tourists who visited in 2014. Speaking on this subject, Sanjay Sondhi, CEO, OM Tourism, said that the growth was due to the stupendous efforts of the MTPA India team. He further added “We are looking forward to an even better 2016.” Vivek Anand, Country Manager, said, “We have seen a remarkable rise of Indian footfalls to Mauritius from all target groups i.e. FIT, MICE, Wedding, Families and honeymooners. We expect the numbers to increase by another 20 per cent next year with more weddings and MICE groups visiting Mauritius. We will continue promoting Mauritius as a MICE, Wedding, Honeymoon, Adventure, Golf, Family and Luxury destination in 2016.”