Reopening of borders in an uncertain climate
Mauritius was preparing to open its borders more widely to international tourists at the end of September in the context of an epidemic outbreak which was slow to subside. Mi-September, the Minister of Tourism Steven Obeegadoo announced that the number of weekly commercial flights touching Plaisance airport would increase to 60, against 15 currently. Some professionals displayed their optimism, initially banking on French tourists to restart the flow and revive activity. The constraints imposed on arriving travelers, however, risk slowing down the resumption of reservations. Fully vaccinated tourists will have to take a negative PCR test within 72 hours before their departure and then must also test negative on arrival to travel freely in the country.. The fifth day of their stay, they will have to undergo another test, always at their expense. As for the unvaccinated, having a negative PCR test carried out within 72 hours before departure, they will be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival, in seven hotels specially made available to them and without being able to leave their rooms. They will only be allowed to leave after three negative tests, upon their arrival, the 7th then the 14th day. In the month of August, the island has welcomed only 2,500 tourists and less than 7,000 since the start of the year. The Mauritian government makes ambitious forecasts, counting on 350,000 arrivals by the end of the year and 650,000 until next June.
Delayed opening in Rodrigues
Rodrigues Island did not wish to follow Mauritius in its reopening schedule and delayed it by a month, despite pressure from tourist operators who have been deprived of income for a year and a half and from the hundred or so Rodriguans stranded for months in Mauritius. The population of the island, spared so far by the pandemic, fears the entry of the virus with visitors. A health center has already been set up to accommodate infected people and Rodriguans, long reluctant, now accept vaccination. 60% of them had a complete vaccination schedule by mid-September and this rate could reach 90% by the end of October, on the eve of the announced reopening.
A giant aquarium in Caudan
In the discretion of the country's quasi-confinement, the Eclosia group opened its giant aquarium in Port-Louis to the public, early September. Named Odysseo, the structure has around forty pools, including one measuring 25 by 16 meters, crossed by a tunnel in which visitors can wander. 3,000 species were grouped together in the two million liters of water in the ponds. The “oceanarium” is located in Les Salines, in the immediate vicinity of the Caudan Waterfront, on a plot of one and a half hectares. Its construction cost 550 million rupees (13,5 million euros).
