SHOWCASING THE SPLENDOR OF THE INDIAN OCEAN PARADISE
BY KETSIA FERNANDO
At the 2024 Seatrade Cruise Global, which held recently at the Miami Beach Convention Center, thousands of cruise professionals and stakeholders from across the globe, including the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), came together to promote their diverse destinations to a global audience.
Seatrade Cruise Global is the world’s largest cruise exhibition and conference. The 2024 edition of the event featured more than 600 exhibitors, over 80 cruise line brands with 2,700 cruise line executives, and more than 120 countries were represented by over 10,000 attendees. This major industry forum is the first choice for cruise line executives as it brings a vibrant ecosystem of cruise professionals under one roof to pursue a common goal.
The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) leveraged the platform to raise awareness about its newly built modern cruise terminal and the “Vanilla Islands” tourism initiative. Funded by the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA), the Port Louis cruise terminal offers world-class infrastructure to facilitate the smooth handling of cruise passengers. The port is positioned as the cruise hub of the Indian Ocean attracting luxury expedition cruise lines such as Le Ponan and Silversea. Also, the new port terminal has the capacity to welcome big cruise liners namely Aida and MSC.
Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius, is rich in history and culture with a diverse range of experiences including beaches, shopping, museums, botanical gardens, local cuisine, landscapes, lagoons, reefs, seafaring escapades and much more to excite cruise tourists. Other popular attractions include Odysseo, the biggest oceanarium of the region, Port-Louis market, and the Caudan Waterfront – a great place to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Port-Louis.
Apart from Port Louis cruise terminal, another project that gained international visibility at Seatrade is the “Vanilla Islands” initiative. This major tourism marketing concept is jointly promoted by the islands of Mauritius, Madagascar, Réunion, Comoros, Mayotte, and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The goal of the project is to link vacation destinations while pooling resources and expertise together to highlight the islands’ assets. Through this initiative, tourists can visit multiple islands in a single trip. Mauritius is well connected with major hubs in Europe, Dubai, New York, Asia, and Africa. Vacationers from these locations can hop aboard cruise lines to discover the Vanilla Islands.
“The long trip from Mauritius to Miami to attend the Seatrade event was worth it. It gave us an opportunity to connect with the biggest cruise liners in the industry, and we gained insightful information from the content, speakers, and discussions throughout the conference,” says Amrita Craig, representative of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority at the 2024 Seatrade event.
As Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami continues to offer a great exhibition and networking opportunity for the international cruise community, participation from African ports and tourism promotion agencies has been on the rise, signaling Africa’s efforts to increase its share of the global cruise business portfolio which is currently less than one percent.
