Following almost two years of lockdown and border closures, the pent-up desire from South Africans to travel to Mauritius is stronger than ever with the arrival of 33 601 passengers between January and May this year.
The tide of South African visitors means that now South Africa is currently sitting in third position behind France and the UK and ahead of Germany and Réunion, all of which make up the top-five source markets.
Compared with the 2019 figure of 41 811 for the same period, this is an extremely positive bounce-back. Furthermore, the arrival figures for April and May 2022, at 10 965 and 7 338 respectively, are up by a few hundred against the 2019 numbers of 10 089 and 7 883 for the same two months.
“It is encouraging to see the arrival numbers from South Africa to Mauritius for the first five months of 2022 rivalling those of pre-COVID 2019, and we expect this positive and upward trend to continue through the year and into 2023,” says Arvind Bundhun, Director of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA).
Talking to the trade
This year has seen a busy start to the marketing activities put in place to ensure Mauritius remains a destination of choice for the South African market, with attendance at physical trade shows and face-to-face meetings in both the leisure and business/MICE sectors after two years.
A successful national roadshow in February saw 18 Mauritius partners interacting with travel agents in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg. This was followed by a productive time at Meetings Africa in March, where MTPA shared its stand with eight Mauritius partners.
Exhibition space at ILTM Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba in April and May ensured a strong presence for the destination at both these major annual travel expos.
Secret Mauritius on display
A marketing campaign, ‘Secret Mauritius’, kicked off in April to highlight some of the island’s hidden gems. The campaign includes a collaboration with Mauritius-based international photographer and writer, Paul Choy, who shared images capturing 20 off-the-beaten-track locations in Mauritius.
South African TV presenter and actor, Jonathan Boynton-Lee, visited Mauritius to film six short videos for a YouTube series. Every two weeks over the next two months, a new video will be released, documenting his experiences while spending ten days on the island discovering some of Choy’s recommended ‘secret’ locations.
