Taxi driver George Lepoigner says he cannot look ahead to the vacationers to start out flocking again to the sun-soaked seashores of Mauritius.

The Indian Ocean island nation opened up its doorways to worldwide journey on Thursday, after lengthy months of isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However there’s a catch — solely vaccinated holidaymakers with a unfavourable PCR take a look at shall be allowed in, and even then they should be confined to “resort bubbles” for a 14-day quarantine.

“With out vacationers within the nation, we should not have foreign currency echange flowing in. We should not have the funds to maintain us going,” Lepoigner, 55, stated.

“It’s a tragedy,” the daddy of two added.

The worldwide coronavirus disaster has battered the economic system in Mauritius, a paradise vacation vacation spot identified for its pristine seashores, turquoise waters and coral reefs.

Earlier than the pandemic hit in March 2020, the tourism and hospitality trade raked in about 24 p.c of gross home product (GDP) and employed almost 1 / 4 of the workforce.

However within the final monetary 12 months, the Mauritian economic system shrank by 15 p.c, so the nation is determined for vacationers to return.

“We’re making ready for a gradual and sustained restoration of the sector, aiming at 650,000 vacationers over the following 12 months,” Finance Minister Renganaden Padayachy stated in June.

He stated the federal government would give the tourism authority 420 million Mauritian rupees (8.3 million euros, $9.7 million) to advertise the island in key markets akin to China, Europe and South Africa.

However with a full reopening to worldwide travellers solely deliberate from October 1, hoteliers should look ahead to enterprise to bounce again.

Le Mauricien newspaper reported that 600 vacationers had been anticipated to land on Thursday on three flights from Europe and Dubai.

They’re going to be capable of use their resort’s amenities and seashore — however not the spa, and can’t discover the islands till after the two-week quarantine.

– ‘Immense financial shock’ –

Gilbert Espitalier-Noel, CEO of New Mauritius Motels, which owns a string of resorts, says glumly that he does not count on a restoration till the final quarter of the 12 months.

The resort group’s income plunged within the 9 months to March 2021 to 940 million rupees from 7.6 billion a 12 months earlier.

“Whereas we’ve taken steps to minimise bills, by way of pay cuts, voluntary retirements and preserving capital and working expenditure at a minimal, the maintenance of the lodges stays important,” he stated, including that the corporate had utilized for a state-funded subsidy to remain afloat.

The consequences of the pandemic haven’t been restricted to the tourism sector, spilling out into different areas of the economic system together with transport, agriculture, retail and assist companies. 

“Mauritius has not escaped this quick and immense financial shock and destruction with ripple results past the sector itself,” economist Rama Sithanen informed AFP. 

And Mauritius, like different nations the world over, is constant to battle extra virulent strains of the virus.

The nation of 1.2 million folks has reported about 2,190 Covid infections and 20 deaths, though the figures might not mirror the true scenario due to restricted testing.

However for Lepoigner, the return of vacationers can not come quickly sufficient.

“Despite the fact that there’s a threat of contamination with the brand new variant, both we die of starvation, or we die of Covid. I will decide Covid since 99.9 p.c of Mauritians have survived the virus since final 12 months,” he stated.