Port Louis — Statistics have been reviewed upwards twice. The latest forecasts assess at some 900,000 tourists for this year. Jean-Michel Pitot, chairman of the Association of Hotel and Restaurant owners of Mauritius, explains this increase mainly by the "aggressive marketing campaign, the liberalisation of air access, the dynamism of operators and the collaboration with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority."

 Does Mauritius have the capacity of welcoming so many tourists?

The country should have no real problems dealing with such a high number of tourists. The hotels have the capacity of putting up 900,000 tourists and, with the rise in the number of flights resulting from the opening of air access policy, aircraft seats should not be an issue either.

 Are there any new hotels about to open?

A number of hotels have announced their opening by the beginning of next year and this should help a lot in welcoming high numbers of tourists. For this year only, Club Med in Albion, Tamassa - the new hotel of Naïade Resorts group - Sagar Hotels and Resorts are expected to open by the end of the year. Others like the Balaclava Resort and Spa or the Four Seasons Hotel will be ready next year.