After the pandemic disrupted the core of the tourism sector and curbed the efficiency of the industry, countries are bouncing back to normalcy and revamping their tourism sector with various incentives and offers. One such country is the highly picturesque island situated in the Indian Ocean.
Mauritius is offering long-term visas to remote workers with the aim to boost tourism revenue as the visitor numbers from the pre-pandemic era cannot be matched for almost four years, reported Bloomberg. In addition, the East-African country is offering a premium visa for digital nomads or people who can work from anywhere in the world.
The country is looking for people who plan extended trips so that a torrential form of revenue is established. “We are looking for digital nomads who can plug in and start working from anywhere in the world,” Nilen Vencadasmy, Chairman, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, told Bloomberg. Nilen added that the tourism sector of the country was expecting people would travel less but for a longer period, and that is exactly what they have been witnessing ever since they have opened their borders to visitors.
As Covid-19 hit and the island closed its borders, the number of visitors, which used to hover around 1.4 million, got slashed to almost nil. According to the Bloomberg report, Mauritius’ annual gross domestic product took a blow of roughly 63 billion Mauritian rupees, which is roughly equal to Rs.10,000 crores.
As per the report, these premium visas, as of now, have received interest from around 2,000 people whose applications have been approved. In addition, to give more boost to the tourism sector, the average length of tourism has been increased from 10 nights to 15. This, in turn, has been reflected in the average revenue per tourist, which has gone up to 84,000 Mauritian rupees from 45,000 Mauritian rupees. Following suit, the Caribbean islands have also adopted similar programs.
