International Travel and Tourism, January to March 2019

Total passenger arrivals for the period January to March 2019 amounted to 480,875 representing an increase of 1.2% when compared to 475,175 passenger arrivals in the corresponding period of 2018.

During the same period, 519,741 passenger departures were registered, showing an increase of 3.1% over the figure of 503,879 passenger departures in the first Quarter of 2018.

Tourist arrivals for the first Quarter of 2019 reached 352,305, lower by 1.2% compared to the first Quarter of 2018. The performance of our top 10 markets for the period January to March 2019 was: France (+3.4%), Germany (+7.0%), Reunion Island (-11.2%), United Kingdom (-9.0%), Republic of South Africa (+0.8%), India (-5.6%), People’s Republic of China (-31.3%), Italy (+10.8%), Switzerland (-15.6%), and Czech Republic (+23.0%).

The average room occupancy rate for all licensed hotels in operation for the first Quarter of 2019 was 73% (77% for 1st Quarter 2018) while bed occupancy rate averaged 65% (70% for 1st Quarter 2018).

Based on latest available data on tourist arrivals and information gathered from stakeholders, the forecast of tourist arrivals for the year 2019 is revised downwards from 1,450,000 to 1,435,000, representing an increase of 2.5% over the figure of 1,399,408 in 2018.

The Bank of Mauritius has revised the forecast of tourism earnings for the year 2019 downwards from Rs 67.5 billion to Rs 66.0 billion, representing an increase of 3.1% compared to Rs 64.0 billion recorded in 2018.