Visa-On-Arrival To Boost Tourism To Mauritius

Lakshmi Subramanian - Chennai

The recent decision by the Mauritius government to provide visa on arrival for a 15-day or less trip to Mauritius is a strategic effort to augment tourism numbers from India. With the only pre-requisites being a confirmed return air ticket and sufficient funds, Mauritius expects to soon become a sought after destination. Explains Rajesh Bushgeet, manager for South India, Air Mauritius, "We will be able to attract more tourists from India as the procedure is much simpler now. Tourists can now easily plan a trip to Mauritius for a period of one week to 15 days. This scheme will be particularly useful to tourists and business investors as about 30 per cent of Indians travel to Mauritius on short notice."

This new introduction will be a boon to the Chennai market as the Mauritius government does not have a consulate office in the state unlike in Mumbai and Delhi. If one has to take a look at the tourist traffic, a major portion of tourists to Mauritius are from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Adds Bushgeet, "There have been several requests from the South to remove the visa requirement, as there is no consulate office. In addition, the deep cultural association between India and Mauritius prompted us to take this decision."

Elaborating further Bushgeet said, "Air Mauritius has also decided to convert its weekly flight from Chennai to Mauritius to a bi-weekly from December. Air Mauritius has had flights for the past three years. However, these flights were at their infancy stage. The new bi-weekly flights would ensure more leeway to Indian traffic. There will be 12 flights per week operating between India and Mauritius. The move would also provide a major boost to the IT sector, as it would attract more business traffic. These flights are an added impetus to the labour traffic as there has always been labour movement from India to Mauritius. As for longer duration travel for leisure, education, business or otherwise visas are still required."