Introduction Of Tourism Industry In Mauritius

My Management Research Report is aimed at analysing the tourism sector of Mauritius and how it has been evolved over the years to attract foreign expatriates. As tourism is one of the fastest growing industry in the world, people are willing to travel to different parts of the world to experience the different culture and events which they find interesting. Thus tourism nowadays have been evolved to cater all the different masses of the public. The research report also shows the various development procedures implemented by the government to attract more tourists to the island as tourism is one the main pillar of the Mauritius economy. The report discusses the discovery of the island, its evolution process whereby Mauritius was occupied by Portuguese, Dutch, French, British and finally gained independence. The Report also discusses the transport facilities, promotional activities, cultural cuisine and festivities, Primary landmarks and attractions. It also discuses different type of tour packages available for beach holiday makers to adventurous holidays makers. It shows how the Mauritian social, economy, political, technological field has benefited by the tourism sector. Improvements that are made to convert the low-income tourist destination to one the world’s best tourist brands. Mauritius is emerging as world class business and banking sector. It is now considered as the hub for the financial transaction and known as Singapore of the West.

The research shows how the tourism Industry has affected the social, technological, economics, ecology and political aspect of Mauritius. The 7Ps marketing strategies like Product, Price, Place, People, Process, Promotion, and Physical Evidence applied to improve the tourism sector. The research also analyses the factors like international competition, Recession, climatic change, perception of luxury, middle class population, demographic change, technological change, security, health aspects, that affects the tourism industry.

Keywords: Maslow’s theory of Motivation, Marketing strategy, Infrastructure, Communication

Introduction of tourism industry in Mauritius

My Management Research Report is based on how Tourism Industry has supported Mauritius by elevating the progression into infrastructure and the development (economy) of the whole island. Also which should be improved more so that to give the island more potential values and worthy for the population as well as the tourists. Mauritius is known as Paradise Island by tourists and is found in the South West of Indian Ocean. Mauritius is dependent on sugar production since its independence in 1968. Mauritius’ economy is dependent on crucial pillars of financial services, business process outsourcing (e.g- textiles), tourism & Information Technology. Mauritius is one of the best Africa’s massive sugar exporters to Europe, and most of its refined sugar is exported to the EU. Mauritius is a parliamentary Republic and a member of the United Nations, Southern African development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African union, La Francophonie and the commonwealth. The island ranked as an upper-middle income economy, it has been ranked as the best governed country in all of Africa. It is the only African country with “full” democracy. The archipelago is ranked the 7th best destination in Africa.

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Discovery of the Island

Mauritius is surrounded by beautiful blue or turquoise crystal seas and white sandy beaches. The word ‘Paradise Island’ described its beauty in nature (Eco tourism parks, volcanoes, etc…). The island’s populace is composed of several ethnicities, including Indian, African, Chinese and French. The main spoken languages are Mauritian Creol, French and English. Asian languages also form part of the linguistic mosaic of the island. Many hotel staffs are fluent in German, Italian and Spanish. Due to others countries, Mauritius too has its own history which marked the island and also the population, with history of sailors who visited the island in the early past by Portuguese in 1507. Then continue furthermore with European.. In 1598 by Dutch who landed in Grand Port and named the island ‘Mauritius’. In 1735 arrived the French – governor Mahé de La Bourdonnais constructed some of the famous buildings which are still standing till today and are site touristic for tourists. After French came the British. The famous bird the ‘dodo’ which was extinct but still live in our memories till now.

The evolution that had taken place throughout the years

In the early 1970, it was an exclusive destination with only a few air carriers servicing it. To attract tourists, the government created a national airline, for increasing capacity to and from traditional markets (UK, France…) extending progressively its network so as to reach new tourist markets.

In 1971, The hotel School was created to sustain growth of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry by providing skilled labour for the different functional parts of hotels, tour operators.

Then, in the 1980s, the government attracted foreign hotel groups such as South African Sun International and well renowned labels such as Meridien etc to position Mauritius as an upmarket destination focusing on sea and sand. The marketing focused on opinion leaders and cinema stars who were invited to stay in Mauritius, road shows were organised by the then Mauritius Government Tourist Organisation.

The liberalisation of air access in the years 2000, attracted a number of carriers so as to match increasing number of hotels and rooms. The rise in bungalows and small hotels coupled with the venue of new air carriers such as Virgin or French Corsair attracted new waves of tourists, more downmarket and with lower disposable income. In the years 2000, several green concepts such as Casela, La Vanille Crocodile Park etc. were launched for environment conscious market segment.

As from 2009, with the economic recession in Europe, the traditional market, Mauritius tried to explore new emerging markets such as China. As China is a massive rich country, it can maintain Mauritius beneficial by rising its economic. On the other hand, Chinese compensate with finance erection and infrastructure proposition has been a grateful relief, even when it has been attached to the use of Chinese Labour and inputs.

In 2010, even with a critical budgeting Mauritius has faced to overcome and with its big surprised the tourists have been increasing. It is a nice performance for the island even if recession has popped up.

Whereas in 2011, Mauritius wishes to lift Tourism markets outside Europe.

In 2012, Mauritius Tourism Sector is targeting on emerging markets and found India as a first class source market. The strategy is to penetrating the Indian market and to focus on the exploit of MICE and Wedding Segments. The Indian Travel trade to advertise and to sell Mauritius as a MICE destination. According to the Minister of Tourism & Leisure ‘Mr Michael Yeung Sik Yuen’, their requirements are to set Mauritius as a high level standard of luxury and accommodation, travel, meetings and conference arrangements, host team building activities, etc. As well as promoting Mauritius as a Golf and Wellness Tourism destination. “India is ranked the 6th biggest market for Mauritius and the country registered 53,955 Indian arrivals last year. Travel trade is crucial to grow up tourism to Mauritius.

As the island was struggling to Economic progress and it saw improvement of the means of communication and a gradual upgrading of infrastructure. Telecommunication in Mauritius are easy to access with internet facilities to one country or to another. Nowadays, the world has been changing and the island too has been thrived for a better future for the population with the incoming of tourism. Tourist Industry has brought lot of reinforcement to the environment of the island. This help in maintenance and renovation of new infrastructure and construction of new buildings. With Tourist Industry, the island has a lot of potential activities such as construction lot of hotels around. Government has given them lot of opportunities, so with new erection of new hotels tourists can enjoy themselves with luxury spas, excursions. Mauritius has been developed due to the arrivals of tourists to the island. Towards a quality tourism in Mauritius, AHRIM (Association des Hôteliers et Restaurateurs de l’île Maurice) launched in 1973 and it is a non-profitable organisation and their members have 85% hotels sector which are ready to welcome tourists every day. Perfect quality deals with good customer service, it is prior in any organisation. On the other hand, Segmentation is vital and support the selling of the destination. Segmentation is divided into 4 groups of market which are:-

Demographic – By selling the destination, Mauritius need to target different types of customers to their age, types of family leisure by positioning its own products on the market.

Geographic – Tourists will discover the beautiful green paradise by staying in harmony with nature.

Psychographic – Mauritius is a paradise island and with its multicultural people, tourists will have the opportunities to discover the lifestyle, cultures, different types of delicious food and as well as their values.

Behavioural – Tourists will have the chance to learn the typical Séga dance and also the knowledge and attitudes of the local people. Even that they can organise some special occasion such as wedding with different cultural types of wedding. Due to the splendid climate in Mauritius, tourists can enjoy their break times and honeymoon.

Transports in Mauritius

Tourism sector in Mauritius, Air Mauritius is a good company that aims to acquire expected demand of its customers. With Air Mauritius Fleet, travelling is more easier for the tourists. The company is the fourth largest carrier in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tourism is one of the main elements for the foreign currency, with expected revenue to rise up. Mauritius planned to expand its airport and its target is to accommodate 4 million passengers a year. Transport in Mauritius has increased and some buses have air con where can feel very comfortable. The problems that they acquired are traffics, to solve out with it can be by examples cable car or train like in the past. With too much transport around it’s not good for the population and the tourists because of the air pollution. The difficulties that Mauritius will face if Air Mauritius do not find a way to provide more routes it will be critical for the tourism industry. By comparing Mauritius to its other competitors, it has risen up since 2007. Otherwise it must be on its guard as according to the rate of percentage Sri Lanka is on the path to overtake Mauritius.

How to promote Mauritius?

The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) plays a crucial role in the island by finding solutions to advertise the island overseas as tourist destination. The objectives of (MTPA) is to acquired the goal by advising to the minister how to promote the island to the tourists by build up campaigns and participating in tourism fairs. This action will initiate the necessary to the other tourism agencies to collaborate by providing more information on the facilities, infrastructures and services available to them in Mauritius. Their duties are to do market tourism research on the trends and opportunities, so that to relevant statistical data on Mauritius. In 2010, Mauritius was awarded as Best Stand – FITUR, Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination – World Travel Award, Indian Ocean’s Leading Beach Destination – World Travel Award and finally in 2011 was granted World’s Leading Island Destination – World Travel Award.

MICE touches the heart of Mauritius

Brand and marketing are two aspects of armour for Mauritius. They entertain the key of success of the tourism industry. According for (MICE) – Mauritius is the Indian Ocean’s Leading Light. Mauritius accommodation has a great aspirational destination by offering a diverse mix of hotels with strong luxury target. In 2008, the Four Seasons Resort and Spa at Anahita and The Grand Mauritian were launched and which formed part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection. In 2009, the International Mauritius Resort Balaclava fort has been established. This introduces of high portrait of luxury hotel brands. Mauritius is appealing as a high-end destination and offering genuine value for money. When comparing with the other Indian Ocean destinations, Mauritius has a tremendously superior conference offering. The island’s capital which is Port Louis, boasts the extensive purpose built convention centre in the Indian Ocean – the Swami Vivekanada International Convention Centre, which has hosted a number of blue-chip companies and can accommodate 20 to 5,000 delegates. Other venues include the International Conference Centre in Grand Baie (up to 600) and the Freeport Exhibition Centre in Mer Rouge (up to 1,000). Many of Mauritius’ hotels also have the competence to procure for up to 800 delegates.

The archipelago do not consist only of mountains, forests, beautiful sandy beaches, culture, history and hospitality but also has a vast potential due to MICE segmentation. Mauritius acquires all the secret key ingredients that are referred for the successful meetings, incentives, conferences and events. Mauritius offers a large excellent of accommodation with best-known quality and luxury hotel brands.

Through the Cultural Cuisine

Mauritius food is of exceptional quality with varieties of flavours and aromas inherited from different settlers through the island’s history. The cuisine of Mauritius is mostly influenced by Creole, Chinese, European and Indian population. Mauritius is greatly influenced and has strong ties with the French culture, the cuisine like tuna salad, la daube, coq au vin, bouillion and the dessert are mostly popular. During the 19th century the Indian workers who had settled in Mauritius brought their own unique flavours. Mostly the cuisine from north and south India like curry, chutneys, rougaille, pickles are more popular. With the arrival of the Chinese migrants by the end of the 19th century, brought the Chinese cuisine like noodles, spring roll etc. Mostly all the hotels and restaurants throughout the island offers different cuisine like Creole, Chinese, Indian, European etc to give one of the finest exceptional platter to the tourist.

Motivation of the Island

The Motivation to develop the island into major strategic tourism sector was probably achieved due to the fact that there are no major industrial revolution taking place. Mauritius is primarily an agriculture based country where the migrant from different parts of the world came to settled down there. The development and successful implementation of the Tourism sector in Mauritius can be accredited with the motivational theory of Abraham H. Maslow. According to Maslow, ”Only the unsatisfied needs are prime source of motivations.”

(Maslow, 1954)

Maslow suggested that there are 5 needs systems that account for most of our behaviour. They are:

Survival

Safety or Security

Sense of Belonging

Ego-status

Self-actualization

(Courtesy : http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm)

Improvements made in Tourism Sector

As Tourism is an important contributor to economic growth of the Mauritian Island, Internal and External factors greatly influence the success of the Tourism industry.

Infrastructure

Significant improvements has been made in developing the infrastructure for the Mauritian Tourism Industry. Improvements in the following sectors has been made to attract tourist from different parts of the world.

Airports : The infrastructure at the airports have been upgraded to provide the tourist with hassle free and quick services. The frequency of the flights has been increased by allowing national and international airline carriers to provide the flight service from Mauritius to different parts of the world. The main Airline carrier providing the flight services to the tourist are EpyptAir, Air Mauritius, Lufthansa, South African Airways, Emirates etc… The following graph shows that the arrival of the tourist has increased in the last decade.

(Courtesy: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/mauritius/international-tourism-number-of-arrivals-wb-data.html)

Hotels: Excellent world class Hotel experience has been provided to the tourist to experience the island paradise. Mainly all the hotels in Mauritius provide different level of luxury to cater the budget of tourist. Wide range of hotel from world class villas, six/five star hotels to cheap accommodation is being offered to the tourist depending on their budget experience. The hotels also offers different packages like honeymoon offers, targeted destination offers, early booking offers, long stay offers to attract the tourist to stay for longer period of time. According to Brown ”Increased length of stay in Mauritius between 1983 and 1997 coincided with an increased in visitor satisfaction levels”

(Brown, 1987)

The occupational rates of the hotel is between 70-80% throughout the year. From the graph we can see the peak periods are from Mid December to Mid January.

(Courtesy : http://www.tropicscope.com/mauritius_information/mauritius_hotels.php)

According to Lockhard and Chandra, ” Long-haul and short-haul tourist generating markets have different length of stay.”

(Lockhard/Chandra, 1997)

Attractions :Mauritius is primarily a holiday destination for beach-resort tourist. It possesses a wide range of natural and man-made attractions. Mauritius enjoys a sub-tropical climate with crystal clear blue beaches, tropical fauna and flora complemented by multi-ethnic population. The people of Mauritius are friendly and welcoming. The Main Landmarks are:

Le Morne Cultural Landscape: UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Aapravasi Ghat: UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The Second Oldest Racing Club in the World

The Third Country in the World to Introduce Golf to its Shores

Since Mauritius is an island it provides excellent water sports for the adventurous tourists. As the island is famous for its idyllic blue sea water sports such as dolphin-watching, sea kayaking, deep-sea fishing, kite surfing, blue safari submarine are very popular among the tourists.

Marketing Strategy

Based on the demographic information provided by the Ministry of Mauritius, different marketing strategies are planned to attract the tourist to the island nation. Marketing strategies are created for the national and international tourist. For the national tourist day-trippers in the local newspapers or on radio are provided by providing special and festivities discounts to keep the national tourists interested. For tourists from outside tourism brochures, online information are provided by different web sites. Technology has been a tremendous boon to create awareness among the international tourist by providing information online. There are many sites like http://www.tourism-mauritius.mu that allow the international tourist to plan their vacation and their whole itinerary from the luxury of their homes. There are many sites that allow the tourists to customize their destination Marketing is done through conventions, promotions, experience. Effective marketing strategies play an important part to provide the repeat value for the tourist.

Marketing strategy is devised based on :

Product : Here the product is the island itself. Different places of interest, sports and festivities can be highlighted to attract the tourist. It is found in the survey conducted by the Mauritian Government that tourist flock to the island nation during the month of December and January as the island enjoys excellent climate during these period as well as festivities also help the tourists to flock to the place.

Price : Finance plays an important role. Different package tours are devised to promote the tourism industry. According to the survey, it is known fact there is growing number of middle class tourist that come to visit the island nation. Tours that caters to tourist of all the pocket size from world class international travellers to adventurous back-packers travel to the island nation to enjoy the climatic ambience of Mauritius.

Place : Mauritius is full of landmark places. Different parts has its own significance. Northern coast of island is the most developed part in the recent years. It provides good restaurants and discotheques. It contains some of charming sights like the red-roofed church that overlooks the lagoons at Cap Malheurex. The south coast of the island provides different landscape than the rest part of the island. It contains high cliffs that are battered by waves of the sea. These are created where the protective coral reefs falls away on the seabed. The east coast of the island is known as the jewel in the Mauritius’ crown. It is comprised of exquisite coves and emerald lagoons. It contains some of the best beaches like Belle Mare. It is an idyllic place for the holidaymaker. The west coast of the island is known for the dolphins that come to these waters to rest and breed. It is ideal place for dolphin-watching. The inlands also known as ‘highlands’ consists of four major town like Quatre Bornes, Curepipe, Rose Hill, Vacoas.

Promotion : Mauritius has an excellent promotional activities devised by the private and public sector. According to the survey, the promotional budget has increased in the recent years. According to the demographic survey the main promotional activities are carried out by brochures, mails, emails, online promotions, print media advertisement, local radio announcements. For the international tourists the email and web marketing is more effective and generate a lot of interest. Recently more revenue is generated through online promotional activities as people find it easier to use technology to get connected around the world. Also, Promotional activities like special discounts, religious festivities discounts, honeymoon discounts are planned to counter the off-peak seasons to attract more inland tourist. According to the survey, internet is the main source to obtain the travel information as well as to promote the tourism sector.

People : People are main pillars in the tourism sector. Tourist are like Gods, who keep the finance flow in the tourist industry. People are main source from providing the service to acknowledging the services. People form the team that provides the services involved in hotels, recreations, transportation etc, without whom the tourist industry will be crippled. People make it possible to achieve the goals set by the tourist sector.

Process : Though Place, People, Price and Promotion are four main part of the marketing strategy, they are tied together to form a process. It is used to provide consistency to the strategy. The effectiveness of the process is measured by how well the marketing strategy is received by the customers. It provides an organized way on how to deal with the customers when they come in, how they are welcomed and how well they are taken care of by providing proper communication channel. Steps are taken to provide quick and effective service to the customers. It defines how the steps to be taken so the customers come again and again thus generating the goodwill for the tourism sector.

Physical Evidence : It provides a way to interact with the customers directly through the means of feedback form, surveys to discuss about the requirement and the satisfactory level. It is a means to collect the information from the customers, so necessary changes or amendments can be made to suit the customers. It adds value to the tourism industry as it is entirely people centric industry, so the satisfaction of the tourist is of outmost importance.

Factors affecting the Tourism

As in any industry there are certain factors that keeps on changing and the organization has to make effective changes to the industry. According to marketing research Tourism industry in Mauritius will be affected by the following factors in future.

Climatic change : Due to Climatic changes, the tourism sector of Mauritius can be adversly affected. Tourism is one of the major industry that brings foreign currency income to the country. Due to rising in the sea levels the coastal areas of Mauritius, where majority of hotels are located where the tourists can enjoy the aquatic entertainment can be adversely affected. To counter these problems, inland tourism entertainment should be made.

International competition : Intense international competition has become a major problem for the policy makers and investors in the tourism industries. Tourism industry has developed to become a pillar of the Mauritian economy. But other countries like Seychelles, Maldives, Srilanka are catching up with the competition. As Mauritius is known as the ‘Culture Nation’, new marketing strategy and policy should be developed to promote culture as the major role in Mauritius Tourism Industry. According to Porter, ”The existence of competition is a necessary precondition for business strategy”

(Porter, 1979)

Perception of Luxury : Currently Mauritius is internationally known as the worl’d best luxury holiday destinations. With many of world’s finest hotels and luxury brands, it enjoys highest rates of returning visitors in the world. It has become established business and banking centre for the last 20 years. It is currently known as the ‘Singapore of the West’. But the perception of luxury keeps on changing with the passage of time. World is switching to ethnic and organic brand of luxury. Hence respective changes should be made in implementing and promoting it.

Middle Class population : Tourism in future will be dominated by the large influx of travellers belonging to the middle class strata of the society. Hence, the infrastructure and marketing strategy should be developed to cater to the needs of these class travellers.

Demographic change : Mauritius has a population of 1,250,882 (estimated July 2007). The main ethnics groups are Hindu – 68%, Christian – 27%, Chinese – 3%, and French – 2%. The languages spoken in the island nation is English and French as the official language and other languages include Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Hakka and Creole. Currently the tourists travelling to Mauritius are European, Indian and Asians. To attract more tourists, the demography of the tourist travelling to Mauritius may change due to its popularity and international competitiveness.

Technological Change : Technological change can affect the tourism industry very effectively. The infrastructure changes, adding of the new communication modes, Introducing new transportation techniques; all these can effectively boost the tourism industry.

Security : concerns a major impact on the tourism industry. Since Mauritius is a peaceful country, I don’t think that security will be a problem. But Maybe, terror attacks, war in African regions may affect the travelling to that part of the continent. If it happens that Tourism industry will be greatly affected by it. It may lead to increase in business failures, demise of certain destinations and loss of expected growth in other destinations.

Health aspects : New Epidemics have power to severely affect the travel and tourism industry. For example, SARS in South Asia and Australia, Foot and Mouth disease in UK. Since people are travelling a lot nowadays, the epidemic is not restricted to one part of the world/country, it can spread quickly and easily to different part thus affecting the tourism industry of the specific country.

Recession : It plays an important role in the tourism industry. Recession or economic slow-down affects adversely to the any tourism industry and Mauritius is no exception. But in 2010, India emerged as the most dynamic source country with arrival of 50,700 tourists. The increase in arrivals was driven by strong economic growth even during global recession. Thus, Mauritius felt little impact on the tourist growth during recession period. But it is predicted that recession may affect adversely in future if proper precautions and marketing strategies are not implemented.

Conclusion

Tourism Industry has evolved a lot in the last two decades. It has made tremendous impact on the different levels which are:-

Social : Tourism has boosted social-cultural life of people of Mauritius. It has provided employment to people. Infrastructure has been improved by building roads and providing medical facilities on the coastal regions where tourists come in large numbers. Tourism has made tremendous impact on the social life of Mauritius like Increase cost of living, Loss authenticity, Acculturation where different culture are adopted according to the changing needs.

Technological : Technology has provided a provided a major boost to the tourism industry. Tourist are nowadays always connected to their home base due to technological advancement like internet, Wi-Fi, mobile communication. It has helped the industry to gain recognition world-wide, thereby improving the communication across the world. Technology has made Mauritius one of top Brands in the Tourism Industry.

Economic : The Mauritian economy rests on four main pillars : tourism, sugar, textiles and the services sector. It has boosted the GDP growth which is essential for the community development and poverty reduction, employments for the locals, investment opportunities, business opportunities. According to BBC World New Mauritius is declared as the top 21st country Brands.

Ecological : Tourism and environment are interrelate as tourism is dependent on the natural resources to survive. Tourism has provided both the positive and negative impact on the ecology of the island nation. The areas affected by the tourism are Biodiversity, Erosion and Physical damage, Pollution (Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Visual Pollution, Climatic Change), Resource base that consists of local building-material sources, Visual and structural change.

Political : The tourism sector is supervised by the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure. The Government has formed the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) which is responsible for promoting Mauritius by conducting advertising campaign and tourism fairs in Mauritius and abroad. With the help of MTL and MTPA, Mauritius has gained world recognition as the most attractive holiday destinations. The Government of Mauritius form innovative ideas to promote the island to the world stage.

According to R. L. Stevenson , ”For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”

(Robert Louis Stevenson, 1879)