TOURISM
# Mauritius Now! Vacationers Paradise!
By William Kalombo
About Mauritius
Mauritius was eventually discovered by the Arabs, followed by tribes of Malays, and some hundred years later, by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The island was more or less successfully occupied by the Dutch, French, and British before gaining independence in 1968. Since then, it has evolved from a lowincome, agricultural economy to a diversified middle-income economy with a growing industrial, financial, and tourism sector.
The Indian Ocean island nation is known for its beaches, lagoons and reefs. The mountainous interior includes Black River Gorges National Park, with rainforests, waterfalls, hiking trails and wildlife like the flying fox. The capital city, Port Louis has sites such as the Champs de Mars horse track, Eureka plantation house and 18th-century Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens.
The country includes several islands of volcanic origin. Besides the main island of Mauritius, there is Rodrigues Island 600 km away to the east and two outer islands, Agaléga, 1065 km to the north, and the uninhabited archipelago of the Cargados Carajos Shoals( Saint Brandon), 430 km to the northeast.
Mauritius, Rodrigues, and Réunion belong to the Mascarene Islands, with Mauritius being the largest. The island is about 61 km long and 45 km wide, with an area of 1,864 km ².
The archipelago has a population of 1.37 million people( in 2020). The island state is the country with the highest population density in Africa. Almost the entire population lives on Mauritius. Spoken languages are Morisien, English, and French. Morisien is a Creole language based on French and is used by almost the entire population in everyday life.
Tourism
Tourism is the third pillar of the economy of Mauritius after manufacturing sector and Agriculture. Tourism contributes significantly to economic growth of the island and has been a key factor in the overall development of Mauritius. The most important economic feature of activities related to the tourism sector is that they contribute to three high-priority goals of developing countries: generation of income, employment, and foreign-exchange earnings. In these cases, long-term programs for tourism development have been designed.
Mauritius is considered a luxury travel destination. The island is known for its crystal clear water with different shades of blue and green, white palm-fringed signature beaches with powder-fine, golden sands, and its fantastic submarine world of coral reefs. Mauritius features a year-round tropical climate, and one will find flowers and sugar cane and forested areas with ebony and eucalyptus trees.
Political System
Mauritius has one of the few stable representative democracies in Africa. The National Assembly is the parliament in the country’ s singlehouse legislative system. Members of parliament are elected for five years. Head of state is the president, head of government is the prime minister.
Arts & Culture
The culture of Mauritius has been shaped by its history. People from Africa, China, India, and Europe have made the island their home; their way of life, customs, and traditions influenced the island’ s daily life. These influences ultimately merged into the cosmopolitan fabric of the unique culture of Mauritius. It is reflected in its music, dance, festivals, local crafts, literature, religion, and language.
MTPA Mega Fam Trip
The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority( MTPA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure of Mauritius established in 1996 by the MTPA Act. MTPA is mandated to promote Mauritius abroad as a tourist destination as well as organize, in collaboration with the local tourist industry, promotional campaigns and activities in Mauritius and abroad.
The task of the MTPA is to promote the country’ s tourism industry, provide information to tourists on facilities, infrastructures and services, to initiate action to promote cooperation with other tourism agencies, to conduct research into market trends and market opportunities and disseminate such information and other relevant statistical data on Mauritius.
Hon. Obeegadoo Louis Steven, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Housing, Land Use Planning & Tourism was the chief guest at the # MAURITIUSNOW workshop on Wednesday 17th November. A quote from his speech at the workshop captures the spirit of MTPA’ s mandate and indeed the reason for the mega fam trip:“ In Mauritius, we continue to prioritize the health of our population, and our staggered reopening was part of this carefully planned policy. Since the reopening of our borders on the 1st of October, we have safely welcomed over 80,000 travelers to date, and look forward to welcoming many more to our home.”
Our Team
I had the privilege to make the short list of distinguished invitees participating in this mega fam trip to Mauritius dubbed # MAURITIUSNOW from 12th to 20th
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