Mauritius United Properties

news from www.newsnow.mu

Tourists arrived in Mauritius in record numbers last month, giving the struggling industry a much-needed boost in the face of the biggest dowturn in living memory.And according to Minister of Tourism Xavier Luc Duval yesterday, “we have already reached the trough and we should be riding back up again”.

In November, 78,544 visitors arrived here – topping the 75,380 for last year and even eclipsing the record set in 2007 at 77,236. Minister Duval said he was “very pleased” with these results as it shows that the Mauritian destination has been able to reverse the trend during a negative year.

According to Mr Duval, the results are “the fruits of a joint effort between the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and the tourism operators as well as the opening of the sky on some key markets”. Many traditional markets have rebounded with positive growth during November. For example, India posted a record growth of 64.8%, which South Africa grew by 9%.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the French and Reunion markets are the only markets that remained positive throughout the year.

From January to November 2009, some 767,626 tourists visited Mauritius. And if the latest trends are a guide, December is also looking positive.

The official forecast of a 10% drop in tourism has also been reviewed upwards and it is now expected that tourism will decline by a smaller 6% for the current year.

By Mahesh Bugnath