Tourism remains incredibly important for island destinations - and that trend shows no signs of slowing down or reversing. The tourism industry provides business opportunities and contributes to economic development on islands.
But research shows that the tourists of the 21st century are more demanding and have different needs. Tourists are always in search of unique opportunities.
Mauritius has adapted to tourists’ more sophisticated demands by diversifying its offering to them. The island has developed a variety of entertainment opportunities aside from the traditional beach tourism. As a result of this work, tourist numbers have risen compared to previous years. For example, Statistics Mauritius shows that more that 1 million tourists visited Mauritius in 2015 compared with 934,827 in the year 2010.
This doesn’t mean that entertainment was the only reason for the rise in tourism. Between 2005 and 2010 tourism climbed from 761,000 to 935,000. That can be attributed to a number of things such as technological development, government support, pro-tourism policies and opening up air access to other airlines.
But according to our research in the last five years we found that entertainment was the biggest pull factor. This means that tourism destinations and businesses should have better knowledge so that they can capitalise on this new form of diversified tourism.
Tourism and Entertainment
Mauritius has, for example, begun to offer activities like scuba diving, parasailing, water-skiing, deep sea fishing and catamaran sailing.
These activities have been shown to attract more tourists as well as retaining them for longer.
Integrating entertainment also helps to preserve natural and cultural resources.
A country’s tourism and entertainment industries are mutually dependent on each other. Tourism is about relaxation, escapism and enjoyment. All of these are also key to entertainment. For example, traditional sega dances on a catamaran trip in Mauritius combine the two.
Tourist Entertainment in Mauritius
A study I conducted with a colleague set out to establish the link between Mauritius, tourism and entertainment.
Mauritius has gone through five stages of tourism entertainment since 1968. These are introduction, development, commercialisation, consolidation and revamping.
