By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter

Mauritius, in collaboration with Emirates, has launched a campaign to attract tourists from Qatar and other Middle East countries.
Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) representatives along with Emirates officials held a media interaction in Doha yesterday. They included Michael Sik Yuen, minister of tourism and leisure for Mauritius; Khalid AlSerkal, Qatar area manager for Emirates; and Dr Karl Mootoosamy, MTPA director.
Mauritius is eyeing tourists from the Middle East after the recent deployment of an Emirates A380 to the tourist hotspot.
Yuen said that the number of visitors to Mauritius from the Middle East is very less compared to the visitors from other parts of the world. “Last year almost 1mn tourists visited our country. But the visitors from the Middle East were only 12,083 and the number from Qatar stood at 362,” he said, adding: “This could be due to the fact that many people are not aware of Mauritius’ tourist potential. Therefore, we have taken this campaign to spread the word about the country and its attractions.”
Mauritius is one of the top spots for honeymooners and has many sporting facilities such as golf, sky diving and other sport facilities related to sea and sand.”
AlSerkal from Emirates said that the airline operates two flights daily to Mauritius. He explained “ The island of Mauritius is a vibrant country and constitutes an important destination amidst our global network. We strongly believe in its potential and our regular increases in frequencies on this route as well as the introduction of a daily A380 service, demonstrate that our promotion strategy is the right one and is
bringing concrete results.”
Dr Mootoosamy said: “The Middle East is a market of utmost importance for our tourism industry. With the support of Emirates, the number of tourists from the region is on the rise. We have doubled our targets for the Middle East and this year we are expecting an increase of 25% in terms of tourist arrivals. Our marketing campaigns will focus mainly on the island’s luxurious hotels, golf courses, spas and the cultural attractions.”
Mauritius, according to the officials, has 13,000 world-class hotel rooms and every year there is a significant growth in the number of tourists to the country. Tourism contributes 8% of the total GDP of the country. The country also plans to open a representative office in the GCC region to facilitate tourism from the region. There is no need of visa to visit Mauritius and most of the people of the country speak foreign languages like English, French. There are also numerous guides who are proficient in Arabic and other languages.