TravTalk India Online Magazine
Mauritius, known to be a popular honeymoon destination for Indians, is expanding its reach in the Indian market, as it is ready to cater to the family travellers, small intimate groups, as well as M!CE and weddings.
Nisha Verma
Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) recently organised a Familiarisation trip to Mauritius and showcased its varied offerings. Arvind Bundhun, Director, MTPA, shares that this was part of their visibility strategy and B2B trade strategy. “MTPA invests regularly in hosting the media to Mauritius to experience the various facets of the destination. We believe that the experiences lived by the media enable them to have an in-depth understanding of the destination and its products, which can be showcased in their articles as an experience that they have personally lived on the island.”
India market
India is an important source market for MTPA. “Mauritius is considered as a honeymoon destination offering high quality service in India, as well as a family destination with a variety of experiences compared to other beach destinations. The destination is one of the world’s aspirational tourism destinations for Indian travellers,” he adds.
After the borders to Mauritius reopened in March 2022, flights were reinstated to 5 flights from Mumbai, informs Bundhun. “Thus, last year was a slow recovery and with the start of operation of Vistara in end March 2023, we are expecting a good recovery over pre-COVID year 2019.”
India connection
A visit to Mauritius will open doors to a culture that has a lot of India influence as well, thus making it easier for the country to cater to Indians. “The strong cultural ties, the influence on the food, language as a high percentage of Mauritians is of Indian descent gives a feeling of home away from home to Indian tourists,” he claims.
Activities galore
Mauritius offers a plethora of activities for every kind of traveller. One can not only gaze at its scenic locales, but indulge in varied adventure activities like Quad biking and zip lining at La Vallée des Couleurs Nature Park; or nature walks and interaction with animals at Casela Nature Parks. While water sports and activities are very popular, people can also take a submarine trip, which gives an opportunity to explore the wonders of the ocean up close.
High on M!CE
He says that with Air Mauritius launching its flight from Delhi and with the operation of Vistara from Mumbai, they are expecting M!CE numbers to grow during this season and especially in September. He adds, “Mauritius is well known for its logistics, facilitations and ease and professionalism of its stakeholders to handle big M!CE groups and big weddings.”
Travel trade is key
Bundhun insists that they work hand-in-hand with the travel trade. “We are present on key platforms and trade fairs, where we co-host our local stakeholders on our booth to facilitate their meeting with the Indian travel trade,” he says.
