New Mauritius Minister of Tourism: Hopes of the tourism industry are high

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Hopes among the tourism and hospitality businesses on Mauritius are high, that a fundamental change in their sector is now underway, as a new government has taken office and a new tourism minister has

Hopes among the tourism and hospitality businesses on Mauritius are high, that a fundamental change in their sector is now underway, as a new government has taken office and a new tourism minister has been appointed.

The former office holder, Michael Sik Yuen, who lost his seat after controversially ditching his party some time ago, was often seen as a fence sitter vis-a-vis regional cooperation among the so-called Vanilla Islands Organization, and several sources have since last week written to this correspondent expressing their wishes that the top leadership of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority will also be swept out of office to make way for a new team with innovative ideas.

Among the first to congratulate the new Mauritiusโ€™ Tourism Minister Xavier-Luc Duval, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister in the new coalition government, was his counterpart from the Seychelles, Alain St. Ange.

Minister St. Ange, in a communication availed to this correspondent, wrote to the Right Honorable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism saying:

โ€œWe are writing to firstly congratulate you on your electoral victory and to say that we welcomed the news that you had also taken over the tourism portfolio.

โ€œAnne Lafortune, my PS for Tourism, and Sherin Naiken, my CEO of the Tourism Board, join me in welcoming you as the new Minister of Tourism of Mauritius, and together we say that we are looking forward to working with you for the consolidation of the tourism industry of our respective islands and of our Indian Ocean region.

โ€œMr. Deputy Prime Minister we look forward to meeting with you officially in the coming months, and to see how we can together plan common strategies to grow the tourism cake of our region.

โ€œWe want to end by reassuring you that we remain willing and able to work with you and Mauritius for the benefit of the islanders of both Mauritius and Seychelles and also of the member states of the Vanilla Islands.โ€

The Tourism Ministry in Mauritius, being moved to the jurisdiction of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, signals an elevation in importance and of finally being cognizant of the economic contributions the tourism industry makes to the Mauritius economy. In recent years, Mauritius has lost its position as the previously undisputed market leader in terms of arrivals and revenues among the Indian Ocean island destinations to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and the islandโ€™s tourism industry had vocally advocated for a change in direction and leadership which sadly never happened under the former government.

All eyes are now on the new minister for his first major decisions on how tourism to the island can be revived and reinvigorated.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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