Mauritius's most recent measure on reopening its boarders for tourists.

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COVID-19: Signature of agreement for the implementation of Operation COSHARE in the tourism sector.

The National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) and the Tourism Authority signed, this morning, at the seat of the NPCC in Ebène, an agreement for the implementation of Operation COSHARE (COVID-19 Occupational Health and Safety and Resource Efficiency) in the tourism sector.

The Executive Director of the NPCC, Mr Ashit Kumar Gungah, the Director of the Tourism Authority, Mr Lindsay Morvan, as well as other eminent personalities were present on the occasion.

Operation COSHARE is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, the NPCC, and the Tourism Authority. The project benefits from the collaboration of the International Labour Organisation and the Partnership for Action on Green Economy.

In his address, Mr Gungah highlighted that tourism contributes up to 24% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and is one of the largest employers with more than 100 000 direct and indirect jobs. He also recalled that the NPCC has recently implemented two ILO projects, namely, Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises, and Covid-19 Occupational Health and Safety.

‘Based on our experience with these two key projects, we have sought to develop a national project to support the reopening of our borders that gives priority to the health and safety of the employees, travelers, as well as the community and help the tourism sector to safely continue its business’, he added. On that score, he expressed gratitude to the ILO, PAGE, and United Nation agencies for their support.  

The Executive Director emphasised that the tourism sector is the lifeblood of the Mauritian economy. Mauritius is on the world map of the most preferred destination and it is our duty to sustain this realisation, he stated.

He concluded by emphasising that sustainable practices will contribute to make the sector more resilient and enable it to continue to grow. According to him, this will create more wealth for the benefit of the people.

As for the Director of the Tourism Authority, Mr. Lindsay Morvan, he stressed that with the reopening of borders, travelers will be more demanding with respect to health security and comfort and underscored the necessity to provide training to employees, from the smallest to the biggest enterprise.

Speaking about the COSHARE project, he underlined that it will enable the adaptation to the COVID-19 situation adding that all stakeholders of the industry will be sensitised on sanitary protocols for the safety of guests and their own.

Employees, he added, should understand its importance and ensure its proper implementation. He affirmed that the Tourism Authority has mobilised a reinforced team to ensure that operators are complying to all regulations and protocols. Furthermore, he underlined that the tourism industry will recover slowly but surely, and without jeopardising the health of citizens, guests, and employees.  

Operation COSHARE

The objective of the project is to familiarise operators from the tourism and hospitality sector with the safety and sanitary needs and protocols for the safe opening of borders. It also aims to help position Mauritius as a safe and environmentally sustainable tourist destination, attracting foreign visitors to make Mauritius their destination of choice.

The project also incorporates a resource efficiency training and implementation as part of a Green Economic Recovery of Mauritius to support the tourism industry to “build back better”.

Target partners include hotels/ tourist residences/guesthouses, restaurants, pleasure craft operators, tourist guides, destination management companies, travel agencies, tourist attractions, beach hawkers, taxis based at hotels and airport, airport and organisations within airport, Mauritius Port Authority, as well as all companies forming part of the value chain in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Each participating organisation will be given the necessary assistance to enable it to adhere to the highest benchmarks related to sanitary measures.

Government Information Service, Prime Minister’s Office, Level 6, New Government Centre, Port Louis, Mauritius. Email: gis@govmu.org  Website: http://gis.govmu.org  Mobile App: Search Gov.