Mauritius Tourism Chief On Responsible Tourism & Sustainability

I think we are much more than an island destination. We always relate Mauritius as a country island. Unlike our competitors, Mauritius has always seen itself as a country island. You've got exceptional spots, Asia waters, turquoise waters, sandy beaches, but I think we've built up our reputation on something which we call “legendary hospitality.”

Tourism is an integral part of our economy. It represents around one quarter of our GDP and Mauritians are very conscious of that. And of course, being a small island development state, far away from all its markets, carbon footprint is consequent. But we have implemented so many measures to mitigate that. And secondly, I would say Mauritians are very friendly and very welcoming as a population and we are very realistic and we are very grateful to what the tourism industry can really bring to us in terms of being a major engine for social economic development.

I would say that while we have a tendency to talk about Mauritius being an island surrounded by beautiful seas, yet the interiors of Mauritius are extremely beautiful. You've got extremely lush landscapes, you've got beautiful landscapes, waterfalls, mountains and so on. In that sense it is quite complete as a destination. 

I would like to highlight that the road to sustainability started a long time back. But actually there is a lot of impetus put on that, because first of all, the government wants to certify the island as a sustainable island by 2030. It's a long process but then we've just got one part of the island, a whole village of the island, Bel Ombre, which has been declared a sustainable district by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Now slowly we are exporting that to other villages, other districts so that we get the whole island certified.

Mauritius is quite a vibrant destination and it’s seen in the fact that we have people coming from four different continents who grew up around similar gastronomy, culture, religion and who celebrate the similar festivals. The beauty of Mauritius is that everybody lives in peace and harmony and you have more or less all the religions in the world in one island. So be it Mahashivratri, be it the Chinese Spring Festival or be it Ramzan coming, we've got loads of festivities that we celebrate as you can see.

I would say Mauritius is a year round destination; it is most assuredly a year round destination. Right now with the change in climatic conditions, we really cannot predict the season but our winter is as warm as 22 degrees during the day, during the night, it gets down to 17 degrees and during summers it’s just as equally pleasant. That's why I tell you, Mauritius is ideal throughout the year.