Mauritius' Q1 tourism revenues up 3 pct as arrivals increase

May 20, 2015 11:02 AM

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius' tourism revenues rose 3 percent to 11.86 billion rupees ($339 million) in the first quarter versus the same period last year thanks to more arrivals in the Indian Ocean island, data showed on Wednesday.

Tourism is a valuable source of foreign exchange for the Indian Ocean island, known for its luxury spas and beaches, but it has found long-haul visitors from Europe harder to attract since the global financial crisis and has stepped up efforts to woo Chinese tourists to make up the shortfall.

Statistics Mauritius said in a statement visitor arrivals in the first quarter rose 10.6 percent to 291,329. It expected numbers for the full year to rise 5.9 percent to 1,100,000.

The number of tourists from Europe, the biggest source of visitors to the island, rose 11.5 percent year-on-year to 169,129 in the three months to end-March, the data showed.

"According to the Bank of Mauritius, tourism earnings for the year 2015 will be around 48.50 billion rupees (+9.5 percent) compared to 44.30 billion in 2014," Statistics Mauritius said.

It said the occupancy rate climbed to 73 percent from 68 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

($1 = 34.9500 Mauritius rupees)