Tourism boom ade? Mauritius is fighting European holiday weakness!
Tourism boom ade? Mauritius is fighting European holiday weakness!
The idyllic island of Mauritius, known for its white sandy beaches and luxurious resorts, experienced a noticeable decline in tourist number of visitors from Europe in 2025. According to Merkur , this trend is a serious challenge for the main support of the Mauritic economy-tourism.
The reasons for this decline are complex. On the one hand, the strong competition through other travel destinations such as the Seychelles, the Maldives and Zanzibar ensures a need to be so much for European travelers. On the other hand, tourists are increasingly looking for authentic experiences and adventures that make Mauritius appear stagnant compared to other destinations. In addition, as in Spain and France, European holidays are still very popular.
economic importance of tourism
In 2022, Mauritius counted about 997,000 tourists, which brings the island to 70th place in the global tourism ranking, so countries. In the same year, the income from tourism accounted for around 1.39 billion euros and contributed significantly to the gross domestic product (GDP) with 10.28 percent. These figures illustrate how important the tourism sector is for the country's economic prosperity.
A worrying trend has been the significant decline in income in the tourism sector since 2020. In January 2025, the income broke again, and in February, arrival numbers of European tourists were 12.1 percent lower than in the previous year. Before the pandemic, 1.81 billion euros flowed into the Mauritical economy from tourism annually, while in 2020 threatening 453.51 million euros were reported, which corresponds to a decrease of 75 percent.
strategic realignment urgently required
In order to counteract this difficult situation, a strategic realignment of the tourist offer is required. A proposal includes promoting cultural heritage and local gastronomy as well as the development of ecotourism and trend sports. These measures could help increase the attractiveness of the island for various tourist profiles.
In April 2025, positive signals were registered in the form of a slight increase in visitor numbers. This may be due to new tourist offers. The coming months will be crucial for the economic future of Mauritius, as the country has to prepare for it to regain lost market shares and to consolidate its position as a popular holiday destination.
In a global context, international tourism has increased significantly to Corona pandemic, with a record of around 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals in 2019, according to . In this context, Mauritius must work in order to be able to survive in the increasingly competitive market.
The adaptation to the needs of travelers and the revival of tourism are technologically feasible, but they require time, investments and commitment from everyone involved.
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| Ort | Mauritius, Mauritius |
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