The Hindu Business Line : Mauritius keen on tie-ups to woo Indian tourists

IN an effort to attract more Indian tourists, Mauritius is looking at the possibility of launching one or two co-branded events in the Indian markets shortly.

The Director of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, Dr Karl Mootoosamy, told Business Line that the idea of having co-branded events was to join forces and tie up with various agencies to promote Mauritius in the Indian market.

"The idea is to launch something innovative and fresh so as to capture and surprise," Dr Mootoosamy said. While emphasising that nothing had been finalised as yet, sources indicated that the tie-up could be either with an airline or a hotel chain, among others.

The tourism board officials indicated that Mauritius was keen to increase the number of Indian tourists to 40,000 in the next 18 months, up from the 26,000 Indians who visited last year, despite some problems in the number of air seats available. "There is a lot of debate in the Air Access Committee on increasing connectivity of Air Mauritius. It should come to a strong conclusion by the end of the year," Dr Mootoosamy said. At present, Air Mauritius operates in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

In spite of such drawbacks, tourists are not only using other airlines, such as the Dubai-based Emirates airlines to reach Mauritius, but they are also combining it with a visit to either South Africa or Reunion Island, among others, officials said. Meanwhile, Mauritius is working on establishing a calendar of events, which would also help attract tourists from around the world, including India. "We will be holding the first international marathon on June 20 and will most probably organise an international tennis tournament," Dr Mootoosamy said.