A serious economic problem…

2 millions tourists, you say? Well, most of you would say that this situation will boost our economy and who knows, maybe give us a better perception of life in Mauritius.

Our little paradise island is now depending more on the tertiary sector rather than the primary and the secondary ones. Our canes are being cut down to accomodate more buildings. The Cybercity at Ebène is one concrete example, though it was on of the places which produced a lot. You guys already know the problems we are having with our sugar export, so I don’t think I need to elaborate more on this.Tea was never an option here nor were other products either.

When we would talk of the secondary sector, we would surely think of a once thriving textile industry but even that is lost. We surely cannot compete with the Chinese, who are in a way dominating the world. Though they do have a language problem, they are actually trying to make sure that at least in the capital, everyone is fluent in English. When aiming for development , a country makes it way towards other countries and language is the key to this. But what we are seeing nowadays is completely the opposite. Rather than China aiming to have an English speaking population, it’s the rest of the world leaning Mandarin.

Let’s get back to the main subject here. Mauritius can certainly not accommodate 2 millions tourist. It’s IMPOSSIBLE. Face the reality man, ’cause we don’t have enough space. Even the clearing of all agricultural land and forests would not allow this. Besides, tourists mainly prefer to stay by the seaside rather in town, which could really be a problem as most coast land IS already occupied. After all, they come for our sun, sand and sea.

Moreover, more tourists can certainly mean prices would rise. Tourists for us mean richer people with a lot to spend. Most people would have the tendency to raise prices for a better revenue. More tourist and higher prices, more money. Logical ain’t it? But what about the local people? Though more jobs would be created, having prices going up all of a sudden with certainly cause some families to drown in what we call poverty.

Well, dear readers, that’s not all. Tourists come here for holiday and as I’ve said before, for our sun, sand and sea. But what’s the use of having a holiday with a beach crammed with people. it is mainly during summer that there’s a concentration of tourists on our beaches. So, these 2 millions would be most likely to come from mid October to mid April. Inner peace, that’s what they are looking for but could we offer them that with all the beaches full with people? Can you relax in a crowd? If you can’t, then how could they? After all, they are humans, just like us.

We should also, not forget that with the crime rate increasing, our island is really vulnerable in terms of security. We’re incompetent in this field, you have to admit it. Could we really ensure their security when we can surely not ensure ours? There’s nothing more painful than people returning home from a holiday with rapes or thefts as luggage.

With all these, could Mauritius really keep the title of “Paradise Island”? I do wonder sometimes…

P.S. I got the idea of writing about this while reading an article in l’express dimanche

~ by Nussaibah on October 7, 2007.