Every Tourism stakeholder is zooming on London, where the World Travel Market opened its doors on monday. The WTM represents one of the most buoyant Travel Fairs in the World. The UK market is second best to the French Market in our Tourism environment and has registered a 6.6% growth since the beginning of the year.

To sustain this ascension and to bring in added value, the MTPA, whose objective at the start of the year was an 8% growth over this market, has placed much emphasis on several communications/promotional activities. The objective for this year is to bring in 100,000 British Tourists, meaning an additional 4,593 tourists compared to 2005.

Among the most spectacular activities, an interactive DVD in partnership with Thomson Worldwide (a TUI affiliate) was launched last August. Thomson Worldwide offers its services through 730 agencies all around UK. Thomson Holidays, a branch of Thomson Worldwide, is the leader in UK with regards to incentive Trips.

The other major event of these past months was the organization in Mauritius of a conference of the 'Association of Independent Tour Operators of UK', which brought along 120 of its members (all specialists in the Indian Ocean Market) for a gathering.

One Year Effort
The MTPA is looking forward to obtain the positive outputs from its efforts. In May of this year, the MTPA has undertaken a promotional campaign on 300 coaches (photo) within the London Circuit.  85% of the Londoners were targeted by this high visibility approach. This campaign was permanently supported by radio Classic FM, whose audience is about 9.3 million people, all considered as forming part of the upper end segment of the market.

"Our message all year round was coherent and simple. We have been constantly saying to the Londoners - who have a high spending power - and to the British population in general to come and share with us our values and to enjoy in situ our intrinsic and most unique qualities, notably the exceptional excellence of our hotels, our blessed environment and our blend of culture. We also highlighted much on the fact that Mauritius remains a value for money destination" explained a representative of the MTPA London.

The idea of a targeted campaign in May and June, which are considered as the low seasons for the British, was to establish a brand image of Mauritius as a « 12 months of the year holiday island ». The sustained presence of Mauritius in the specialized press and through radio and TV clips at peak- time, have largely contributed to create an enthusiastically awareness surrounding the Mauritius destination.

A STAND AT THE LEVEL OF OUR AMBITIONS
Mauritius, which occupies the AS2500 stand, has the vision to impress at the British market, fortunately spared by the Chikungunya effect in Mauritius. The stand lies on a 216 m2 area and has been completely renovated and air conditioned. Elegant, it represents perfectly Mauritius' ambitions. 44 participants from Mauritius, including all the large groups of hotels, tour operators, small and medium hotels and Rodrigues form part of the delegation this year.

The following operators have made the trip: Accor / Sofitel Imperial, Air Mauritius, Apavou Hotels, Beachcomber Hotels, Berjaya Hotel, Blue Lagoon Beach Hotel, Casuarina Hotel/Concorde TGA, Cathay Tours, Connections, Constance Hotels, Erco Travel, Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa, Le Meridien Ile Maurice, Le Preskil Resorts, Le Telfair Golf and Spa Resort, Manisa Hotel, Maritim Hotel, Mauritours, Mövenpick Resort & Spa, MTTB MAUTOURCO, My Holidays, Naiade Resorts, One&Only Resorts, Paradise Cove/La Palmeraie, Sands Resort, Seaside Holidays, Shanti Ananda Maurice, Silver Beach, Solis Indian Ocean, Summer Times, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, The Residence, Veranda Resorts and White Sand Tours.

The local Tourism Industry at the outset expects a lot from the British market. Another carrier is expected to land at Plaisance in November 2007; Virgin Atlantic. The Richard Branson's company will ensure two weekly flights from London Gatwick. There are currently 11 weekly flights between UK and Mauritius, flights which are operated by British Airways and Air Mauritius.

With regard to the region, Seychelles have also moved in with an important delegation, coordinated by the Seychelles Tourism Board. Seychelles, where tourist arrivals have reached the bar of 100,000 - in advance by one month compared to the same period last year - lays much hope also on the UK market which is positive in growth but lags behind Italy (+31%) and Germany (+18%).