Africa-Press – Mauritius. The imperative to rethink tourism for a more inclusive, sustainable, equitable and resilient industry amidst global challenges was highlighted, today, by the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Minister of Housing and Land Use Planning and Minister of Tourism, Mr Louis Steven Obeegadoo at the Maritim Resort & Spa in Balaclava.
He was delivering his keynote remarks at the opening of a three-day workshop focusing on the nature-based tourism and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Acting Secretary-General of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Mr Rajib Tripura; the Director of Sustainable Development of Tourism, United Nations World Tourism Organization, Dr Dirk Glaesser; and other personalities were also present at the opening.
DPM Obeegadoo, at the outset, elaborated on the challenges faced by the tourism industry due to the COVID-19 while emphasising that public and private partnerships have enabled the industry to recover from the pandemic with recovery rate expected to be above 80% for this year.
Underlining other challenges such as climate change and the Russia-Ukraine war disrupting global supply chains as well as the increasing rate of viral pandemics, the DPM spoke of the need to draw lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for a more resilient industry.
Referring to tourism as key to growth and economic recovery, he dwelt on the importance of nature-based tourism in promoting sustainability and resilience. The Acting Secretary-General of the IORA, reiterated the Association’s commitment in promoting tourism and cultural exchanges.
Mr Tripura indicated that the IORA will continue to facilitate, coordinate, monitor and implement projects, policy documents and work programs to promote regional cooperation for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian Ocean region.
As for Dr Glaesser, he called upon a change in approach as regards the detection of communicable and emerging diseases for a more resilient and sustainable tourism industry.
The exchange of individual best practices during the workshop as well as the sharing of lessons learnt from the pandemic will contribute to improve and guide the sector, he added.
The workshop, held from 03 to 05 May 2023, is seeing the participation of some 50 local and international Senior Government Officials from the IORA. It will provide an insight on how nature-based tourism can be viewed as a solution by identifying tools and mechanisms for sustainable development.
It will also serve as a platform to share individual country experiences and discuss challenges. Topics to be covered will comprise amongst others nature-based tourism as one of the fastest growing sectors of global tourism industry relying on experiences related to the natural environment including ecotourism, adventure tourism, agritourism, wildlife tourism, and coastal tourism.
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