11/08/2019 16:24

Small Island with big ambitions

[IMG=19914-5668] At the moment Aeroflot and Air Mauritius are negotiating the relaunch of Aeroflot scheduled flight to Mauritius via Dubai, said the Minister of Tourism of Mauritius, Xavier Luk Duvall at the press conference in Moscow on May 24th. He also added that in the future it is planned to operate long charter programs to the Island from Moscow. However, Russian travel market players interviewed by a BANKO correspondent, feel skeptical towards the Mauritius initiative: ‘the current air traffic volume is enough. Therefore, I think that new flights to Mauritius neither charter nor scheduled will be in demand’, commented Director of Spark Group, Pavel Muturov. Meanwhile, Mauritius tourism authorities consider Russian travel market to be highly potential. In 2005 Mauritius welcomed 6, 000 tourists from CIS countries, mostly from Russia. In 2006 the tourism authorities plan to double the tourist flow to the destination. At present the tourist flow to the destination from Russia has increased by around 35%. Furthermore, the tourism authorities of Mauritius have made several steps towards the realization of their ambitious projects. Thus, visa validity period was increased from two weeks to a month. Besides, the destination is planned to be more actively promoted in the Russian market – publications in mass media resources, advertising campaigns together with Russian tour operators, participation in travel exhibitions. Nevertheless, the promotion budget has not been defined yet. ‘Information about the country in mass media will stimulate sales. Besides, the increase of visa validity period will also make a positive impact on the market as we have clients who may afford three or four weeks in the country’, stated Dmitry Artyunov, General Director of Art-tour Travel Company. Meanwhile, Russian travel market players divided opinions regarding the potential growth of tourist flow. Thus, Artyunov believes, 6, 000 tourists is only a small part of the potential flow, while according to Pavel Muturov, the tourist flow to Mauritius has been stable for the last several years. Therefore, the considerable increase is hardly possible.