International Travel and Tourism, Year 2018

Total passenger arrivals for the year 2018 amounted to 1,862,289 representing an increase of 4.6% when compared to 1,781,021 passenger arrivals in 2017. In 2018, 1,859,697 passengers departed from Mauritius, showing an increase of 4.6% over the figure of 1,777,295 passenger departures in 2017.

Tourist arrivals for the year 2018 reached 1,399,408, up by 4.3% compared to the year 2017. The performance of our top 10 markets for the period January to December 2018 was: France (+4.4%), United Kingdom (+1.4%), Reunion Island (-5.2%), Germany (+11.7%), Republic of South Africa (+14.2%), India (-0.6%), People’s Republic of China (-9.9%), Switzerland (+2.1%), Italy (+9.3%) and Australia (-1.5%).

The average room occupancy rate for all licensed hotels in operation for the year 2018 was 75% (77% for year 2017) while bed occupancy rate averaged 67% (68% for year 2017).

Based on recent data on tourist arrivals and information gathered from stakeholders, the forecast of tourist arrivals for 2019 is maintained at 1,450,000, representing an increase of 3.6% over the figure of 1,399,408 in 2018.

The Bank of Mauritius is maintaining the forecast of tourism earnings for the year 2019 at Rs 67.5 billion. This figure represents an increase of 5.4% compared to Rs 64.0 billion recorded in 2018.