MAURITIUS TO PROMOTE SPIRITUAL HERITAGE TOURISM
Hot on the heels of a report about the establishment of the Praslin Heritage Route in the Seychelles come news from Mauritius, another member of the Vanilla Islands, that they too will turn to their heritage in search of added attractions for tourist visitors.
The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, in short MTPA, earlier this week entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the countrys Council of Religions to open up place of worship to visitors while at the same time looking into a code of ethics for the tourism industry together. The latter, amongst other issues, will surely prevent scantily dressed or barefeet tourists from entering spiritually important places and places of worship but the upcoming cooperation clearly has a wider brief and intent than just that.
Mauritius already has visitors from abroad specifically coming to the island for religious festivals and commemorations, but this niche of tourism is to be widened and further enhanced by new products and initiatives to fully tap into this potentially significant market segment.
Similar to the Seychelles annual calendar of events Mauritius also seems poised to summarize religious and ethnic festivals and provide comprehensive information for visitors through websites or printed guide material, to make tourists aware of the rich cultural diversity they can expect on the island while there on vacation. A competition for Mauritius citizens is planned for next month to express themselves in regard of their values vis a vis tourism, with the results flowing into the preparation of a code of ethics, showing a broad based approach to capture the sentiments of locals and avoid agonizing them when organized tours descend on as many as 400 earmarked places of worship or otherwise cultural and spiritual significance.
