Mauritius takes step to woo Indian tourists

Mauritius Tourism has launched an aggressive campaign to showcase the country as a holiday as well as Meetings Incentives Conferences Exhibitions (MICE) destination to the Indian tourists bound for foreign locales.

Vijaye Haulder, deputy director of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, told media persons on Tuesday that the government of his country had relaxed travel rules to accommodate and attract more number of tourists through various steps, including "60-day visa on arrival" and withdrawal of ECNR (Emigration Check Not Required ) clearance.

Haulder said the effort was also on to reach out to tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India to tap the tourist potential.

He is leading a team of about 10 operators from tourism industry in Mauritius to promote 'Magical Vacation' initiative in India.

Haulder said there was a significant rise in the Indian tourist inflow into Mauritius as the number went up from 17,000 in 2002 to over 37,000 in 2006.

"Among the Asian countries, India accounts for 62 per cent of the tourist arrivals in Mauritius," Haulder said.

Ranajoy Banerjee from Air Mauritius said in keeping with the efforts of Mauritius Tourism, the airline is increasing the number of flights from India to Mauritius, as there will be five flights every week from April this year as against the present three. The number of flights will go up to six in the next month, he added.

The airline is also increasing the carrying capacity as it has replaced its 175 seater B 767s with A-340 aircraft.

Two such aircraft have been added to take care of the increased flow from India, he said.