CHENNAI: Golfing, wedding and exotic destination lure Indians to Mauritius which had welcomed about 83,000 Indians during 2016. Indians families have been a popular travellers segment for Mauritius covering an area of 1,865 square km of which 330 km is coastline, from India. Its growth from tier-II Indian cities and other travel segments like Mice (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events) is picking up, says Mauritius tourism official.
The country offers visa on arrival for Indian nationals for a maximum of 60 days. India’s share in Mauritius tourist arrivals is 7 per cent; and at present 50 per cent of Indians visiting Mauritius were from Western India with the rest being split evenly between North and South India. “As of now, we get 50 per cent of our foreign tourists from Europe. Asian countries follow next with 20 per cent,” says Vivek Anand, Country Manager - India, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA).
Aiming to attract one lakh visitors from India, MTPA has planned its second edition of India roadshow in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai in August this year. “Golfers from India are also choosing Mauritius as their preferred destination for playing golf as we are offering them with one of the best golf course facilities,” he adds. With Air Mauritius operating direct four-weekly flights from Mumbai, and twice a week from New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, MTPA is confident of achieving the double digit growth in number of Indian travellers to that country this year.
Demonetisation, the official said, had not impacted the tourist flow to the island nation and it had only increased by 10 per cent in the last few months. “We will be promoting Mauritius as a destination beyond the beach... Bollywood is also evincing interest in making movies in Mauritius,” he added.
