Made in Mauritius 2006

Some 115 travel agents, tour operators and wholesalers from throughout Greater Sydney attended the Made in Mauritius 2006 Roadshow held in mid June at the Grace Hotel.

Many of the principals from the 21 hotels, resorts and travel providers present at the evening function came from Mauritius especially for the promotion.

Ms Suzy Edouard, Tourism Promotion Manager, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) said she was delighted with the local participation in the second Made in Mauritius roadshow.

She was equally as upbeat with Australia’s interest in Mauritius citing the fact that while 13,000 Australian travellers visited the island nation in 2005, the figure for the first four months of this year is up by 20 per cent.

She forecasts that around 16,000 Australians will visit Mauritius in 2006.

Meanwhile the MTPA is “seriously looking at the Australian market” with the establishment of an MTPA tourist office a possibility, she said.   

Ms Terri Cordin, Marketing Manager of the Perth-based Wildlife Safari said that Mauritius is the biggest seller of the six destinations in the company’s Indian Ocean 2006 brochure.

“Mauritius has grown from being just a transit point to a destination in its own right offering a wide range of premium product with a cultural diversity,” she said.

The company which specialises in providing upmarket holidays recently launched The Great Combination, a 15 day upmarket tour that combines a Mauritius island escape with a luxury safari in Kenya.

Visits to Amboseli, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara wildlife sanctuaries are highlights of the $4995 ex Perth safari.

During the informative travel trade evening, Mr Francis Ong Seng, Regional Manager Australia, New Zealand, S.W. Pacific took the opportunity to make several announcements about the airline’s plans for Australia.

The carrier has ordered three Airbus A340 – E aircraft with the first two planes set for delivery in December.  The third aircraft will come on line in March 2007.

Capacity to Sydney will be increased even before any of these aircraft are in service as a second Airbus A340 – 300 service will be introduced in November, he said. 

This will double capacity on the Mauritius/Sydney route from the current 294 seats to 588 seats, he added.

Perth is also set for a capacity increase with an Airbus A340 – 300 replacing the current Boeing 767 in February 2007.

Load factors will be carefully monitored to determine the feasibility of adding a second frequency to Perth, he said.

Report by Thomas E. King