Just back from two weeks holiday with the family to Mauritius - somewhere I have always wanted to go and it certainly lived up to all our expectations. Beautiful scenery; safe, clean beaches; high quality hotels; friendly people who enjoy giving good service & excellent food combining a whole range of different styles from Asian to Creole. We didn't stray far from our resort but enjoyed snorkelling on the reef and visiting some other nearby beaches. The perfect tonic.
And this is an island where tourism is really going places. Since the demise of the sugar cane industry, the tourism industry has taken on huge importance and is growing like topsy. Tourist arrivals in 2006 totalled 788,000 with almost two-thirds coming from Europe. And in the first 3 months of this year tourist arrivals are +16.6% with the UK the third biggest market for the island. The forecast for the whole of 2007 is for around 850,000 tourist arrivals. More than 25,000 local people are employed in the industry - a growth of 25% in 4 years.
New hotels are under development and airline capacity is increasing significantly with bigger aircraft and greater frequency. Later this year Virgin Atlantic start a twice-weekly service from London, adding another 900 seats a week.
We can dream of growth like that here in Jersey - or government and industry together could make it a reality. Time will tell.
1 comment:
Mauritius is really undeniably fantastic!!
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