Tourism Sector: Jocelyn Kwok: “The future is full of potential”

In 1968, Mauritius welcomed 15,553 tourists. In 2015, a total of 1,151,723 tourists visited the island. “Behind those two numbers, we acknowledge the emergence of a real economic sector which has now reached Rs 50.2 billion of receipts, contributing over 7% of GDP and accounting for more than 7% of national employment. This is remarkable from a sector which has managed to stay competitive in its core markets despite its geographical location,” explains, Jocelyn Kwok the Chief Executive Officer of AHRIM. For Jocelyn Kwok, the numbers translate global growth in international travel, particularly for leisure, and economic attainment in our targeted source markets. “They also confirm consistent development of the sector as paced by sound policies and strong leadership, from both government and the private operators. Moving from our two predominant markets in the earlier days, that is Western Europe and the region (South Africa and Reunion Island), we now boast significant arrivals from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, mainland Africa and Asia.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12719","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20947 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"178","height":"177","alt":"Tourism-sector"}}]]The sector displays noteworthy achievements in terms of national employment and economic development of remote areas of the country. “When including indirect employment at the rate of 1.5 for each direct one, we observe that at least 110,000 people earn a living from tourism,” he added. Jocelyn Kwok states that the strengths of the tourism emerge from Mauritius’s core features as a naturally attractive tropical island, geographically well-located in respect of our targeted leisure travellers, and uniquely populated by migration waves through its history. What are the weaknesses of the sector? “Law enforcement in respect of tourists generally has to be more visible and more efficient; there is an issue of lack of resources given the rapid growth of the sector. Better on-site tourist information, namely signage and directions, is required in order to enhance visitor experience. And our actions and communication on sustainable tourism in Mauritius have to become abundant.” Regarding the future, Jocelyn Kwok states that it is full of potential “namely with our successful market diversification and expansion strategies, our joint non-stop and hub strategy which today enables direct connections to 10 of the Top 20 busiest airports in the world (10 out of 14 actually if we exclude 6 US airports), and our product development actions which have to, one the one hand, uncover all the other treasures of Mauritius, namely its history, its landmarks, and its cultural dimensions, and on the other hand, develop events that will enhance our uniqueness. There is so much in our own hands.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12720","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-20948 ","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"740","height":"208","alt":"Data-Milestone"}}]] He trusts that the challenges ahead are mostly linked to economic factors. “Global economic performance, the strength of currencies in our source markets, the price of oil and how it impacts upon air travel, and how airlines fare generally are some of the main aspects to be continuously monitored regarding demand. On supply, we have a carrying capacity dimension for our island that we have to scope out soon, at all levels, on numbers, proportions and footprint. Our consistent message to markets is the intelligent build-up we are engaged into; our product attractiveness and our air connectivity are paced accordingly and we should not take any step backward,” he states.