The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) has launched ‘Swagat’ (Welcome), a special operation to promote the Mauritian tourism products & services among the Indian clientèle. It is implemented with the collaboration of Air Mauritius, the Association des Hoteliers et Restaurateurs de Maurice (Ahrim), the Association of Inbound Operators Mauritius (AIOM) and the Association of Tour Operators. The campaign has started with a familiarisation trip for 16 top Indian Tour Operators, from the 1st to the 5th of February.
In India, the MTPA will carry out a special visibility campaign to advertise Mauritius in the media as well as on bus shelters and on the Internet. The Swagat logo & tag line will prominently feature in all MTPA destination advertising from March to May 2009. Indian Tour operators will be invited to advertise their product using the Swagat logo & tag line.
The programme will also include PR activities such as a Ministerial visit to India, Bollywood Celebrities visit to Mauritius, promotion of Mauritius as a diving destination, launching of a Swagat Training Academy in India, sponsoring of horse races, golf events and polo tournament.
The Swagat project consists of adapting the Mauritian product to the specificities of Indian travellers so as to make the destination indian-friendly, with a high focus on quality. The aim will be to position the re-engineered products and services vis-à-vis the upper middle and upper segments of the Indian travelling public. Another objective is to boost tourist arrivals to Mauritius by at least 20% every year, as from 2009.