The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) wants to reverse the effects of the chikungunya on French tourists. Not only is France the best provider for the Mauritian destination but it is also the country where the virus has been the most on the media. As the number of tourist arrivals has decreased by 37%, there was a strong need to react.

“Your heart is already there,” says the slogan that the MTPA has imagined. It targets the professionals of the sector, the media and the public at large. There will be 50 promotion events in May and June inclu-ding 118 spots on Europe 1, 1,700 posters on buses in Paris, adverts in subways, TV programmes on Mauritius and Rodrigues on TF1 and RFO as well as reports in feature magazines.

Likewise, programmes shot in Mauritius will be broadcast by M6. Voyage and National Geographic will broadcast 670 spots on the country between 10th May and 15th July. There will also be a campaign online with lastminute.com.

It seems that Mauritian authorities have not forgotten any advertising medium for their campaign. They want to make sure the French market will be exposed to the destination and will think of Mauritius only in terms of a dream destination – and no more as a risky area. The MTPA called upon Air Mauritius, the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Mauritius (Ahrim), the Hotel operators’ association and tour operators grouped under the AIOM. Their common objective is to reverse the trend and achieve a 10% increase in tourist arrivals by the end of the year.

<B>More flights… more visitors</B>

The campaign will coincide with the sale of the first tickets for Corsair flights. The airline will inaugurate its first flight from Mauritius to Paris and Lyon in October and will start promoting them within the next few months. As the chikungunya effects should no longer be felt at that period, the French airline intends to take advantage of the most important market for Mauritius. As from 29th October, there will be two flights a week on the route Paris-Lyon and Mauritius. Corsair is intended to “be complementary and will offer its clientele an attractive package,” as its representative, Philippe Hitié, and manager of Summertimes, explains. The French airline will open its office in Port-Louis soon, which shows that it intends to remain in Mauritius for quite a long period. The manager of Summertimes has other surprises in store: he announced the arrival of another airline in Mauritius for November. Airline Tui.Nordic.com will operate 28 flights in Mauritius during winter in Europe. He asserts that Northern countries should not be neglected…