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Tourism seen as key player in economic recovery
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Tourism seen as key player in economic recovery
Tourism seems poised to become the country’s major actor in economic growth as compared to the other sectors. The new minister, Xavier-Luc Duval, expressed his vision of the changes needed at the Eco-Austral award ceremony: reengineering the marketing of the destination and breaking the taboos concerning air access. The minister of Finance, Rama Sithanen, seems to be on the same wavelength concerning the new tourism policy. “We have the savoir-faire and the infrastructure which is the hotels. We have to review the marketing, the air access policy and the competitiveness of Mauritius as compared to other destinations.”
Xavier-Luc Duval wants to define his new strategy around three main aspects: accessibility, visibility and “attractiveness.” He wants to build a new image of Mauritius abroad based on local authenticity, history, culture and art and to attract a new type of tourist.
However, his main concern remains air access. The government had committed to review air access during the electoral campaign and the minister intends to keep this commitment. He has confirmed the arrival of a third carrier between France and Mauritius and (this was less expected) a third between the UK and Mauritius as well, thus ending the monopoly of Air Mauritius, Air France and British Airways on these routes.
Low cost airline </B>
The minister also announced that a low-cost airline would serve Africa and the Indian Ocean region in order to try and boost the duty-free sector.
However, before opening the sky to more airlines, the government will have to solve the ongoing conflict between the hotels and the airlines. Hotels have always complained about the high tariffs of Air Mauritius during the low season when the hoteliers reduce their prices. According to hotels, tourists can afford hotel prices but they can’t afford such expensive air tickets. The minister declared that the government plans to leave this to the law of supply and demand but hopes that Air Mauritius will keep its visibility.
The private sector has welcomed such moves. As Raj Makoond, the director of the Joint Economic Council, states, the key to tourism development is undoubtedly air access. “We have always said that the Air Access Policy Unit should become operational as soon as possible so that it can settle the question between hotels and airlines. As long as there is no regulatory body, we will keep beating around the bush with different interests. The NACO report on air access should also be implemented.”
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