MAURITIUS SNUBS SEYCHELLES AGAIN
(Posted 10th February 2014)
A regular source from Port Louis described the latest spat between Mauritius and the Seychelles as a diplomatic form of one island giving the other the proverbial finger, when it became known that the Mauritius Minister for Culture M. Choonee had earlier on confirmed that there will once again be no official delegation from the island to the Carnaval de Carnivals, the Carnival International de Victoria.
Last year did a privately organized delegation from Mauritius take the festival in Victoria by storm and earned them the highest accolades though sadly only the runner’s up prize for best performing troupe, and was the darling of the spectators lined up along the festival route through the heart of the Seychelles’ capital.
The source also suggested that the man at the centre of the controversy, one Karl Mootoosamy, CEO of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, appears to be relentlessly campaigning to create animosity between the two Indian Ocean neighbours through often thinly concealed negative remarks and dismissive gestures while at the same time being busy to copy cat ideas from the Seychelles marketing juggernaut in an open admission of creative and ethical bankruptcy.
It is understood that the private sector in Mauritius is once again working on its own to send a delegation to the Seychelles in defiance of the stand taken by Mootoosamy’s MTPA and the latest slap dished out by their Minister for Culture and will be taking this as a springboard to initiate other activities in promoting Mauritius in the future without MTPA being involved, and more specifically not being invited to be part of such activities.
‘Karl loves to play golf with celebrities and strut around like a peacock with beautiful ladies but when it comes to doing his job, he is a failing Mauritius. Under his leadership has Mauritius lost its competitive advantage, lost out to the Maldives in arrival numbers for several years now and from what you told me even to Sri Lanka. His personal ego issues has now become embarrassing and counterproductive for Mauritius. We are speculating what sort of political hold he has over key figures in government but for sure, he and those who support him and damage our tourism image, should all just go’.
This announcement coincided with figures coming into the public domain that Mauritius had indeed been displaced to third place in the Indian Ocean arrival rankings as both the Maldives, a Vanilla Island Organization member already, and Sri Lanka, a Vanilla Island member in waiting, outscored the arrival numbers for Mauritius in 2013. (http://www.eturbonews.com/42586/sri-lankas-tourist-numbers-26-percent)
Sources in the Seychelles took the announcement by the Mauritius’ culture minister in their stride and reiterated that the event is and remains open for all member of the Vanilla Island Organization and other countries from Africa wishing to participate in a formal setting or through direct participation by performing troupes. They also chose not to comment on allegations of a growing rift within the Vanilla Island Organization where Mauritius appears to be increasingly isolated from the mainstream direction, even though the island is a founder member of the organization which was formally launched at WTM 2013 by UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai.
The 2014 Carnival Festival, an official Vanilla Island Organization event, is taking place between 25th and 27th of April in the Seychelles capital of Victoria. w
4 Responses
This a disappointment, but hardly a surprise. The coolness, verging on frostiness, of the Mauritian authorities towards not just the carnival but also their Indian Ocean neighbours more generally should be a cause for concern in both Mauritius and the rest of the region. Mauritius appears increasingly disengaged and unsympathetic towards the aspirations for closer co-operation and regional integration being promoted by the Indian Ocean Commission (incidentally, based in Mauritius and headed by a Mauritian), the SADC, the IOR-ARC and more specialised organisations such as the regional ports grouping APIOI.
The view from MTPA is that the other Vanilla Islands members are moving too slowly, so Mauritius has had no choice but to go it alone. On being asked in December how Vanilla Islands is being promoted within Mauritius, Dr Mootoosamy replied that Mauritius was expecting 50,000 additional tourists from China this year. It was a non-sequitur that nevertheless answered the question, albeit obliquely. Mauritius isn’t interested in VI because it can get as many low-spending Asian tourists as it wants. Those tourists are needed to fill up all those surplus rooms that were built as a result of uncontrolled hotel development.
Minister Choonee cites “raisons financieres” for not sending a delegation to Seychelles. Poor poverty-stricken Mauritius! Let’s see how that argument stacks up.
Dividing annual gross domestic product by population gives you a rough idea of a country’s wealth:
Madagascar (carnival co-sponsor): $435 per person
Mozambique (carnival participant): $579
Zambia (carnival participant): $1,469
Mauritius (too poor to attend): $8,142.
I am sure there must be many in the tourism sector in Mauritius who grind their teeth with frustration at the way they are being let down and misrepresented. None of it is good for the country’s image – Mauritius is left looking petulant and mean-spirited, which is very far from the country’s true character.
What happens now? The best solution by far would be for a private-sector initiative to take up the baton dropped by the MTPA and the ministers. The obvious umbrella group to organise an independent Mauritian assault on Victoria would be AHRIM. Hotel groups such as Constance and Starwood/Le Meridien have their feet in both the Seychelles and Mauritius camps, so would clearly have an interest in promoting themselves across borders.
No man is an island, the saying goes. In these days of increasingly global connectivity, no island is an island either. If Mauritius really thinks it can go it alone, then perhaps it’s time to say ‘Au revoir, Maurice’.
As always Stephen are your comments spot on and in fact add more background on the isolationist policies sections of Mauritius politics seem to favour these days. Sri Lanka stormed to 1.27 million arrivals last year and continues to grow. When you say low spending tourists, those are not the ones investors in 5 star luxury resorts were looking for to fill their beds.
Mauritius sadly seems to have become increasingly sectarian and has marginalised and alienated the tourism stakeholder community and there will be a price to pay.
Thanks for staying connected!
W.
As events have just been proven, the MTPA seemed to have a disproportionate hold even over Sik Yuen! Now that Xavier has jumped ship, Navin is directly controlling the purse strings. MTPA and TA must go NOW! There is and should only be room for the Ministry of Leisure and Tourism.
….should read: Ministry of Tourism and Leisure.