A ten-year blueprint for the way forward for the tourism sector and to extend resilience in positioning Mauritius as a extra aggressive vacation spot and an motion plan to implement inland tourism together with nature-based tourism are within the pipeline, introduced the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, this afternoon, on the launching of the One & Solely Le Saint Géran Personal Houses mission, at Pointe de Flacq.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning, Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo; a number of Ministers; the Govt Director and Chief Govt Officer of the Funding Company of Dubai, and Chairman of Kerzner Worldwide, Mr Mohammed Al Shaibani; the Chief Govt Officer of the One & Solely Le Saint Géran, Mr Philippe Zuber; and, different eminent personalities have been current on the launching ceremony of the mission.
On the outset, the Prime Minister counseled the One & Solely Le Saint Géran for taking part in a pivotal position in projecting Mauritius as a world class luxurious island vacation spot and Kerzner Worldwide for its continued excellence within the tourism trade. He identified {that a} complete quantity of Rs 3.9 billion will probably be invested on this luxurious actual property programme. Such funding demonstrates the Group’s belief within the economic system and dedication in build up companies in Mauritius, he emphasised.
This mission, Prime Minister Jugnauth emphasised, will assist Mauritius to diversify tourism lodging and it’s according to Authorities’s technique to focus on most particularly people coming to Mauritius on premium visa. The premium visa scheme has performed an vital position to kick-start the restoration of the tourism trade following the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
On the impacts of the pandemic on the tourism sector, Mr Jugnauth noticed that arrivals dropped from 1.38 million in 2019 to round 309,000 in 2020 and round 180,000 in 2021.
The Prime Minister highlighted that touristic exercise has returned to pre-pandemic ranges in lots of features whereas indicating that One & Solely Le Saint Géran is main the way in which after having recorded bookings above 70% for the final a part of 2022. The contribution of tourism to the GDP was 8% for yr 2019 and is estimated to be round 6% in 2022, he stated.
With the sectors spectacular restoration, he said that Authorities is set to attain its bold aim of attracting a million vacationers this calendar yr and 1.4 million in monetary yr 2022/2023. He additional enumerated that some 86,000 vacationers visited Mauritius in August 2022 as in comparison with 107,000 vacationers in 2019, representing a restoration price of 81%. For the primary eight months of this yr, some 557,000 vacationers have visited the nation, he indicated. With the height season stretching from October to January, the Prime Minister expressed optimism that the variety of touristic arrivals will exceed the a million bar.
Prime Minister Jugnauth furthermore reiterated that with out the daring accompanying measures launched by Authorities within the face of the COVID-19 to help lodge corporations, jobs and the self-employed, the nation would have been in chaos. Coverage responses along with advertising efforts by authorities businesses and personal operators have contributed to the profitable restoration, he said.
“The restoration price of our important markets for July 2022 is most comforting with vacationer arrivals from United Kingdom, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Austria and the United Arab Emirates even exceeding the pre-pandemic degree” stated the Prime Minister.
Mr Jugnauth additional elaborated that in monetary yr 2018/2019, tourism earnings achieved stood at Rs 61.6 billion for 1,402,635 vacationers and for monetary yr 2021/2022, we achieved Rs 39.6 billion for 553,111 vacationers. It is usually to be famous that the spend per vacationer elevated by 63% in rupee phrases and 30% in US greenback, he added. “We are going to proceed to channel advertising efforts in direction of area of interest segments of excessive community travellers who primarily come from the Center East, France, Germany, United Kingdom, India, and South Africa”, said the Prime Minister.
For his half, Mr Al Shaibani expressed satisfaction and pleasure for attaining this milestone by means of the devoted laborious work of the Group. He spoke of his dedication to showcase the culturally wealthy Mauritius vacation spot and the continued growth of tourism within the nation. He additionally prolonged his appreciation to the crew for the personal houses growth mission.
As for Mr Zuber, he dwelt on the crucial to work collectively in order that Mauritius stays on the centre-stage of the luxurious journey trade and because the best choice. He spoke of the continued willingness to speculate and innovate. He additionally enumerated initiatives for the safety of the ecosystem by means of the launching of the mangrove rehabilitation programme. Offering help to needy communities equivalent to an aged house in Belle Mare and a centre for deprived kids are additionally a number of the company social obligations initiatives outlined by Mr Zuber.
The One & Solely Le Saint Géran, the promoter and developer of the mission has been a pioneer in luxurious hospitality since its inception in 1975. It is among the most extremely fascinating luxurious resorts within the Indian Ocean. The launch of the Personal Houses Challenge will supply designer branded residences in Mauritius.