International Travel and Tourism, January to June 2019

International Travel and Tourism, January to June 2019

Total passenger arrivals for the period January to June 2019 amounted to 887,787 representing an increase of 2.6% when compared to 865,516 passenger arrivals in the corresponding period of 2018. During the same period, 925,796 passenger departures were registered, showing an increase of 2.2% over the figure of 906,272 passenger departures in the first semester of 2018.

Tourist arrivals for the first semester of 2019 reached 650,082, higher by 0.5% compared to the first semester of 2018. The performance of our top 10 markets for the period January to June 2019 was: France (+4.1%), Reunion Island (-3.9%),     Germany (+4.0%), United Kingdom (-2.2%), Republic of South Africa (+1.1%),   India (-15.4%), People’s Republic of China (-35.1%), Switzerland (+0.2%),           Italy (+12.7%) and Austria (-2.2%).

The average room occupancy rate for all licensed hotels in operation for the first semester of 2019 was 69% (73% for 1^st semester 2018) while bed occupancy rate averaged 62% (66% for 1^st semester 2018).

Based on latest available data on tourist arrivals and information gathered from stakeholders, the forecast of tourist arrivals for 2019 is revised downwards from 1,435,000 to 1,425,000, representing an increase of 1.8% 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 66.0 billion to Rs 64.7 billion, representing an increase of 1.0% compared to Rs 64.0 billion recorded in 2018.