Mauritius expects tourism earnings to rise 3.8 per cent this year

Mauritius' tourism revenues are expected to rise 3.8 per cent this year after a jump in 2016, the country's statistics office said on Monday.

Tourism is a valuable source of foreign exchange for the island, known for its luxury spas and India Ocean beaches.



Statistics Mauritius said it expected tourism revenue to climb to 58 billion rupees ($1.64 billion) in 2017, less than an earlier forecast of 59 billion rupees. Last year tourism earnings were 55.9 billion rupees.



It forecast visitor arrivals to rise 6.8 percent this year to 1.34 million from 1,275,227 million in 2016. The statistics office said the room occupancy rate rose to 73 percent last year from 70 percent in 2015.