Mauritius: Qatar's new favorite destination

Mauritius, a dream destination for world travellers, has reported a significant rise in the number of Qatari tourists visiting the island nation in the past seven months.

Mauritius’ minister of tourism and leisure, Michael Sik Yuen, said there has been a 20.3 percent increase in the number of Qatari tourists visiting his country in the past seven months. He, however, didn’t give numbers.

Yuen told Al Sharq in an interview published yesterday that the rise was after his country launched a tourism promotion campaign with Emirates earlier this year. 

He said tourism was one of the economic mainstays of his country but the sector was hit badly by the world economic crisis due to massive dependence on Europe for tourist arrivals.

“We have now succeeded in attracting more and more of Arab tourists. We are expanding special facilities for them,” Yuen said.

He said Qataris are high-spending holiday-makers and the World Tourism Organization, in its report for 2014, ranks them as one of the 10 Best Global Tourists.

“Qataris are positively influencing the international tourism expenditures. For Mauritius, Qatar is one of the main markets.”

All GCC nationals get visa on arrival in Mauritius and domestic workers of different nationalities like Filipinos and Sri Lankans accompanying GCC individuals and families (visiting Mauritius) are issued a month’s visa, said the minister.

These workers should, however, have residency and work permits of a GCC country and the permits should be valid for at least three months.

There has been a significant rise in the number of GCC tourists after the visa on arrival facility was introduced for them, he said. According to the minister, Mauritius would welcome Qatari investment in any of its economic sectors, including tourism.

Having been adversely impacted by the 2008 global financial crisis, Mauritius’ tourism industry has been thriving again. Last year, the country witnessed 42.6 percent growth in international tourist arrivals and revenues from the sector were over US $1.32bn, said the minister.

The Peninsula | Photo from JustHolidays.com.na