Tourism in Mauritius: A new spirit for a new mandate

The purpose of this paper is to bring a new spirit in the tourism industry and a holistic realisation of the new policies of the Government. The Ministry of Tourism & External Communications will adopt a customer-centric approach with a view to rejuvenating the industry and repositioning Mauritius as the leading island destination.

The tourist industry is evolving in a very competitive world and in order to continue to prosper, we must strive to meet fully the expectations of our customers, be they in our traditional markets or in emerging ones. We must more than ever respond to the highest expectations of a wide range of segments: families, couples, weddings, sports, culture, heritage-focused and adventure holidays as well as cater for the tastes of the European, Asian and African tourists.

We want our tourists to experience as far as possible a perfect holiday here, so that they become our best ambassadors. To do this, we need a “whole of government approach” so as to meet the expectations of our visitors during their stay. A number of ministries (and local authorities) will be directly concerned, for instance with the state of cleanliness of our island in general but more particularly our beaches and tourist sites, appropriate taxi and even bus services, safety and security including food safety, the state of our lagoons, combating beach erosion, adequate shopping facilities, appropriate road signs and street lighting, high quality entertainment, our nature parks and Pamplemousses gardens, etc. Putting the customer’s needs and requirements first will be the key to differentiate ourselves from other competing destinations.

The Ministry of Tourism and External Communications, after consultation with the different stakeholders, is proposing the following plan of action which is pivoted around enhancing the product, accentuating accessibility, revitalising our marketing strategy and restructuring our institutions.

1. Enhancing the product

i.    A sense of place. We must insufflate in the tourism sector a renewed sense of place. This is achieved through a symphony of our wildlife, our vibrant heritage, unique local assets, our local cuisine, our music and various traditions of the numerous religions present here. A new focus on cultural tourism in Mauritius will thus embrace the distinctive sights, sounds and experience that are rooted in our country. The tourist will be led to experience the pulsating culture of Mauritius through our rich heritage. Those are the unique and memorable qualities that will resonate with both the local people and the visitors at various levels.

ii.   The environment. We must ensure that tourist sites are continuously maintained in an exemplary condition. There is need to uplift the attractiveness of major iconic places on the Island. Having clean beaches, pristine lagoons and tourist sites should be one of our top priorities.

iii.  Facilitating excitement and adventure. Mauritius is one of the few tourist destinations which can simultaneously offer breathtaking experiences such as scuba diving, deep sea fishing, zip-lining, trekking, and parachute-jumping alongside the inescapable beaches. Consequently, our tourism industry should step up its game to further develop those aspects, whilst maintaining its sustainability. These services would greatly contribute to the experience of the tourist in Mauritius.

iv.  Leveraging our nature and wildlife. Our volcanic island has gifted us with a wonderful nature, fauna and flora. More and more tourists visit Mauritius to experience the wildlife and our natural environment through numerous activities such as trekking into untouched nature parks or participating in nature trails dedicated to secluded destinations.

v.   Going towards responsible tourism. The sustainability of our destination remains one of the key aspects of this new mandate. Green tourism encompasses responsible travel to places that conserve the environment, sustain the well-being of the local people, and involve interpretation and education at the same time. Concurrently, the tourist of today is very conversant in green tourism initiatives and, as such, we need to keep in line with the green expectations of the millennial tourists. Measures to promote an eco-friendly tourism will include: a better monitoring of the nature activities be it by land, sea and air, the enforcement of regulations towards the protection of our natural assets and the active lookout for innovating methods from which Mauritius can further develop its green tourism initiatives. We will also pursue quality label initiatives such as Blue Flag status for designated public beaches and to encourage all hotels to adopt eco-friendly practices.

vi.  Human resources – our greatest asset. Human capital remains the greatest asset of our tourism industry. The quality of our welcome and service is an essential part of our product offering. As such, providing an enabling environment for personnel working in the tourism industry is a must. Our tourism employees must be given recognition, equal opportunities and excellent training to encourage and motivate them, and to enable them to gain skills required to propel the industry forward. We also have to ensure that a fair deal is attributed to our deserving personnel to ensure that the world famous Mauritius smile is to last for generations to come.

vii.Accommodating emerging markets. With the influx from the new emerging markets such as China and India, we need to work on creating a homely feeling for the people visiting the island. Measures through which this can be achieved include ensuring that our tourism professionals acquire appropriate language skills and catering for the cultural and culinary habits of our visitors.

viii.Evolving into a tropical hub for medical tourism. Whilst our tourism industry has always been associated with travelling away from home in search for pleasure, leisure, adventure and discovery, there has been a growing trend from travellers for health care holidays.

Medical tourists now wish to receive a wide range of medical services from cosmetic, dental and plastic surgery to hair-grafting procedures and infertility treatments amongst others. Positioning Mauritius as a tropical hub for medical tourism is possible due to the quality and diversity of treatments available locally, which are combined with the attractiveness of our island.

We will pursue the promotion of high quality and professional medical services to diversify our Tourism Industry.

ix.  Rekindling of the low season. A seasonal strategy is needed to give a boost to the tourism industry in Mauritius during the months of May, June, July, August and September. We will focus on improving the attractiveness of our products during those months in appropriate markets. We will work towards creating a low season offering of activities whom will be given yet another reason to come to Mauritius during that period.

x.   Improving tourist amenities. There is the need to create additional tourist sites such as pedestrian streets which would not only give a boost to the cultural tourism and the duty-free shopping aspect of Mauritius but would also rejuvenate our product offering. We should also ensure better control of hawkers, food sellers, canvassers and other vendors on beaches and tourist sites.

xi.  Developing a hotel classification. We have noted that more and more tourists are booking via the internet. However, we have a cause for concern because of the lack of independent and reliable information about hotels. A hotel classification system will be introduced to ensure that tourists make informed decisions. This will also encourage hoteliers to upgrade their product and invest in quality, which would consequently result in their obtaining a better ranking.

xii.A 2 year moratorium on opening of new hotels. Only hotels which are presently under construction (around 130 rooms in total) would be allowed to open till end of 2016. This will help restore a sustainable balance between supply and demand. Existing hotels would be encouraged to refurbish their premises and improve quality generally. This would also encourage new foreign direct investment in the takeover of existing flagging properties. The measure will not affect investment in construction given that construction of any hotel takes a minimum of 24 months.

2. Accentuating accessibility

i.    Measures are required to bridge the mismatch between air seat capacity and hotel rooms. These measures will also take into consideration the long term impact on Air Mauritius.

During the high season, the following new flights have been programmed:

•       Twice weekly flights by Lufthansa from Frankfurt;

•       An additional weekly service by Condor also from Frankfurt;

•       Twice weekly flights by Austrian Airlines from Vienna;

•       A direct weekly service, with a possibility of a second one, by Air Mauritius from Chengdu in China; and

•       A new weekly flight by TUI from Poland.

All these flights accentuate the Ministry’s endeavour to pursue new routes and accessibility strategies within our existing and new markets.

3. Revitalising our marketing strategy

i.    Having a harmonious approach. Based on the continued enhancement of our product, we will aim to have a more harmonious approach in the way Mauritius is portrayed on our different targeted markets.

ii.   Using media and social networks. There will be a greater use of techno-logy for e-marketing/digital marketing including websites, Facebook, travel blogs, etc., as it will be more efficient, productive and user-friendly.

iii.  Penetrating new markets. An Asian and African strategy will be further developed for a more pronounced exploitation of the potential of these source markets. Revitalising our strategy will ensure that Mauritius remains an inspirational destination rather than a cut-price one, in all the segments that we operate.

4. Establishing a complaints service

i.    Our tourists need to have an interactive platform through which they can voice out their tourism experiences of Mauritius to the relevant authorities. This platform, set up through the MTPA, would allow us to quickly address the industry failures from the customer perspective.

5. Restructuring for revival

i.    The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) and the Tourism Authority (TA) will be restructured and
staffed to be able to perform efficiently and meet the objectives set for the tourism industry.