TravTalk India Online Magazine
Successful vaccination rollout in many ways is responsible for Mauritius deciding to reopen its borders. Mauritius Tourism is looking to recapture Indian market by launching a campaign and ensuring they offer safe destination for Indian travellers. Around 70% of bookings from Indian market come from tour operators and travel agents.
Nisha Verma
Arvind Bundhun, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) recently unveiled a new advertising campaign, ‘Where else but Mauritius’, at a glittering ceremony in Mumbai.
Elaborating, Bundhun said, “India is a major source of tourism for us. With the country opening up, Air Mauritius is increasing the frequency of flights. Air Mauritius is adding five flights out of Mumbai. We launched the campaign to target all the segments of the Indian market, be it honeymooners, weddings, families, MICE, weddings, event or productions. This campaign appeals to everyone.”
Strategy ahead
Bundhun said that the travel value chain has been affected since the pandemic. “Around 70 per cent of our bookings from the Indian market come from tour operators and travel agents. Hence, our first approach is to support them, which we are doing through joint marketing campaigns. The second approach that has been adopted is running joint marketing campaigns with airlines, because accessibility is visibility for us. Under the B2C initiative, we have launched the campaign and will be implementing a social media strategy to target the travellers so that Mauritius is on the minds of the travellers,” he claimed. The objective is to reconquer the market because their competitors have reopened before them.
Ease of travel
Claiming that they have reviewed the sanitary protocols in Mauritius recently, Bundhun said, “Only fully vaccinated Indian travellers can enter Mauritius. Upon checking themselves in at the hotel in Mauritius, the guests will have to take the mandatory COVID-19 test. If the result is positive, then he or she will be isolated in a hotel room for a week. Ever since the island reopened its borders, 300,000 tourists have entered Mauritius. The percentage of positive tourists is negligible—0.01 per cent or around 2,000 tourists.”
Mauritius is safe
Claiming that Mauritius is good at COVID-19 management as per the World Health Organisation, Bundhun said a successful vaccination rollout is responsible for Mauritius deciding to reopen its borders.
“We are also following what other countries are doing, and thus we didn’t completely remove all the COVID-19 tests. We still have a test on Day zero, which is to protect tourists and our population. Out of the 0.01 per cent tourists, who tested positive, none were hospitalised nor were there
any casualties.
Ever since Mauritius announced reopening its borders for the Indian market, Bundhun shared, “We could see that there is a pent-up demand for our shores. We are confident that in the coming months, we will see a sizeable increase in demand for the Indian travellers.”
Indian market expectations
Bundhun said, “Before the pandemic, we used to get around 80,000 Indian travellers, which is 7 per cent of the total tourist arrivals. What is more interesting is that Indians travel during our low season. Our entire tourism ecosystem is heavily dependent on Indian tourists. Also, we have historical ties with India and it is a privilege to welcome Indian travellers to Mauritius. It is a home away from home for them.”
