In short, the 43rd Top Resa trade show from 5 to 8 October has brought together 200 destinations, 1,700 brands, 34,000 tourism professionals and 150 conferences. The mission of our VPM and Minister of Tourism at Top Resa was to seduce this traditional market in order to win it back, to sell our island as a Eurocentric but above all, to show off Mauritius as a safe and secure destination. This exhibition is an opportunity to say that Mauritius is turning the page to resume its economic activities.
Optimism in the offer
Mauritius is on stand 1. F.27 in hall 1 of Porte de Versailles, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. There is optimism, smiles and dreams to offer. A delegation of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, members of the Economic Development Board, of course representatives of various hotels and tourist establishments but above all the Minister of Tourism who was there to reassure future tourists that everything is already under control and secured thanks to the Vaccine Bubble made possible by the mass vaccination campaign which has already reached more than 90% of the adult population, i.e. 68% of the general population.
Putting Mauritius back in the competition
Not held in 2020 because of the pandemic, this Top Resa show is to cover two years of networking. Our Minister of Tourism was there mainly to put our island back in the competition of the most popular holiday destinations and thus ensure our tourism revival which, as he revealed in an interview with TV5 Monde, “The country is one of the most affected African economies as tourism accounted for 25% of Mauritius’ GDP… The government has taken over half of the tourism wage bill“. He also referred to the unfortunate Wakashio incident, a black mark on Mauritius’ tourism reputation on the web “Mauritian society suffered a double trauma with the pandemic, and that the country had the misfortune to experience an unfortunate incident where an oil tanker ran aground,” he said and to close the persistent questions of the journalist, he recalled the events that occurred in Britain on March 16, 1978, an oil spill caused by the Amoco Cadiz, a Liberian oil tanker that ran aground spilling a cargo of 227. In his interview, he said that the oil spill was not the result of the oil spill, but rather the result of the oil spill that occurred in Brittany. In his interview he mentioned the idea of reinventing tourism or Mauritius turning to “greener tourism“.
35,000 seats proposed in October
Of the 6,500 arrivals in Mauritius since the reopening, about 40% are French. At the Top Resa exhibition, Steven Obeegadoo made the announcement “There is no question of going backwards, we cannot afford the economic cost of going backwards“. There was also the announcement of an offer of 35,000 seats proposed in October spread over 14 weekly flights: 4 weekly flights from Paris CDG operated by Air Mauritius, 5 others operated by Air France and 5 flights provided by Corsair, 3 from Orly and 2 from Lyon and Marseille, not to mention the connections that transit through the hubs of Dubai with Emirates and Istanbul with Turkish Airlines.
Steven Obeegadoo back on Friday
We can count on to do quite well as we benefit from a great marketing campaign not only aimed at the French or the 200 destinations present or the Airlines or the various Ministers of Tourism present at the Show but also with the audiences of the TV campaigns. The VPM Obeegadoo is scheduled to return to the country this Friday 8th October and will report on the results of this Networking event.
