The first Chinese passengers from Shenzhen arrived at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Saturday June 28. A welcoming ceremony was held at the airport to welcome the 263 passengers including the Executive Vice President of China Southern Airlines, Mr. Zhang Jiamin, the major tour operators and the Chinese press.
The flight CZ 6660 will fly from Shenzhen to Mauritius on a weekly basis. This project has been made possible after several negotiations between the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure and the China Southern Airlines (CSA).
The Executive Vice President, Mr. M. Zhang Jiamin stated that China Southern Airlines is one of the largest airlines in Asia in terms of passengers and fleet size. “The airline fleet is ranked the first in Asia and fifth in the world. Our airline, which is a member of SkyTeam, has more than 580 aircraft including Boeing 787, 777, 757, 737 and Airbus A380, A330, A321, A320 and A319. The CSA has more than 1,930 daily flights, connected to over 190 destinations across the globe. With the collaboration of SkyTeam, we have set up a global network. This network covers 1,024 destinations in 187 countries - in almost every major city. In 2013, the China Southern Airlines transported more than 91 million passengers, thus becoming the first Airline Company in Asia and the 3rd in the world. It has had an edge over all other Chinese airlines for the past 35 years.”
Besides, the region of Guangzhou, located in the South of China, is an opportunity for Mauritius since Shenzhen is the hub for 61 other flights of China Southern Airlines in China. Hence, Chinese travelers can use the hub of Shenzhen, which is also the nearest city in China to travel to Mauritius.
According to Michael Sik Yuen, “this airline will enable 7, 000 more passengers to visit Mauritius and we intend to promote the region of the Indian Ocean and Africa through the promotion of twin packages. Therefore, Mauritius will be the hub between China and Africa.” The China Southern Airlines is planning to operate another flight to Mauritius in the coming months.
It is good to note that Air Mauritius currently operates daily flights on China including three Shanghai, one in Beijing, two in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. Next month, Air Mauritius will launch another flight to Beijing to implement the objective of the MTPA of doubling tourist arrivals this year and position Mauritius as a destination of choice for Chinese travelers.
The diversification strategy of the MTPA on the Asian markets especially China has enabled Mauritius to attract more Chinese travelers. Indeed, the number of tourists from China has experienced a remarkable increase over the last three years. In 2011, 15, 133 Chinese travelers came to Mauritius, in 2012, the destination has welcomed 20 885, an increase of 38%. Last year, 41, 913 Chinese tourists have visited Mauritius, an increase of 100.7%. This year's growth target of Mauritius on the Chinese market is to double arrivals 2013, to reach 80,000.
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