Number of tourist arrivals to Mauritius 2013-2023

In 2018, Mauritius registered approximately 1.4 million tourist arrivals. This was an increase compared to the previous year when the island nation on the southeast coast of Africa received just over 1.34 million tourists. Furthermore, in 2019, it was forecast that tourists’ figures would have increased steadily over the following years. However, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the number of tourists entering Africa decreased significantly. Africa counted roughly 7.3 million tourists in July 2019, whereas by the same month in 2020 the numbers decreased to 836 thousand.

Pandemic impact on tourist arrivals

Looking at the year-to-date change in tourists’ arrivals in Africa by sub-region, Northern Africa had approximately 80 percent fewer visitors in 2020, whereas Sub-Saharan Africa suffered as well with 63 percent fewer tourists. Similar results are seen for Mauritius with significant decreases in international tourists’ arrivals in 2020 and 2021. By April 2020, the country counted a 100 percent decrease in visitors compared to the same month of the previous year. Moreover, the first five months of 2021 illustrated the same development, which heavily impacted the economy.

Projected GDP growth

Such economic impact can be seen with the estimated and projected GDP growth of Mauritius. According to the 2020 estimations, the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) declined significantly by 15 percent. Nevertheless, projections show a positive GDP development in both 2021 and 2022.