Strength in Diversity - Peace Boat Retrospective #7 (?) NOCH FOTOSTREAM

Towards sustainable tourism on Mauritius

(written for the Peace Boat website on Jan 5, 2013 >>)

"It takes a week to just try all the different meals we have in Mauritius. Are you sure that you want to leave tonight already?" When Peace Boat docked at the island for the first time, the Minister for Tourism, Hon Michael Sik Yuen, came to greet Peace Boat participants. "If you stayed only one day longer, you would nearly double my statistics", he said, only half jokingly. "Please come for several days the next time, Mauritius is a multicultural place, that deserves to be visited for longer. We even have Japanese sushi!" Each year, 1500 Japanese visit Mauritius, but transit passengers such as the Peace Boat group are not included in that figure. His joke reveals concerns over the future of Mauritian tourism industry, one of the main economic sectors. It has stagnated due to the Euro crisis and is now threatened with further decline as a consequence of the effects of climate change. 

The sky is still dark grey and branches lie scattered on the ground of a small forest as Mauritius is recovering from a cyclone, which just passed near the island. "We experience extreme weather more and more often, especially floods and storms" tourism expert Raj Chintaram told Peace Boat participants, when onboard the ship as a Guest Educator . "If climate change continues at this speed, our shallow beaches will be submerged by 2050". Aside from the horrific ecological damage this will cause, it will also have economic effects for the island. This could severely threaten the Mauritian tourism industry, which raises nearly one third of the island's revenues and directly employs at least ten per cent of its inhabitants. A further decline in tourism could have a potentially devastating effect on the island's economy. While the international community continues to debate how to reduce climate change, those living on small islands are having to think of practical ways to adapt to its effects and in Mauritius this includes looking for alternative sources of income from tourism, alternatives to conventional beach tourism.

The island is looking for alternatives to conventional beach tourism. Eco-tourism and cultural exchanges are gaining importance. Fortunately, the small island has a lot more to offer potential visitors- green mountains, several micro climates and a large variety of indigenous plants. Different ethnicities and religions live together in this island nation, which the United Nations considers the only 'full democracy' on the African continent. The island's cultural diversity and biodiversity could be a source of alternative tourism, but it needs to be sustainable tourism. The mountainous interior is gaining importance because of the potential for eco-tourism it holds. "Come visit my family and you will get to know the real Mauritius" Raj Chintaram promised and he kept his word. The cultural exchange programme organised for the participants was a practical example of what he understands by "sustainable tourism"; conservation of natural resources, integration of local communities into tourist activities and the protection of natural and human environments.

Midlands is a region, as the name suggests, in the centre of the island. It has no sandy beaches, no French Chateau and no Dutch colonial neighbourhoods. It does not figure in the top tourist destinations. Raj Chintaram's village is surrounded by hills - several dozen houses in fantastic colours, people chatting in narrow street corners and laundry drying in overgrown gardens next to wild banana plants, ravinal trees and sugar cane. Red flags wave in the gardens of Hindi families next to a small mosque and a Christian community centre. This is where Raj Chintaram grew up and this is where he decided to return after his studies in India. "Mauritius is small, everything is close by, including the airport" Raj Chintaram says with a smile. His mother and two brothers welcome the group with open arms and his extended "family" - Peace Boat's partner organisation Association Civique Midlands - lines up to shake hands with participants. Through a mixture of languages - English, Japanese, French and Creole - the Peace Boat participants and the members of Association Civique Midlands fit as much cultural exchange as they can into the few hours they have together. Small groups join four women in their houses to cook local specialities like Gajack snacks, Roti, Dhollpuri and fish curry. Participants from Japan show local children Origami techniques and receive Henna tattoos in exchange. In the tropical afternoon heat, they paint Japanese landscapes on large canvasses with watercolours, plant indigenous trees in a school yard, visit elderly women in the village, sing a Japanese song they have practised and join in the local Sega dance.

Warda Mohungoo and her six best friends watch the cultural exchange with amusement. They are Raj Chintaram's former students, who have just received their Bachelor in tourism from the Technical University of Saint Louis and participate in the Allied Network for Policy Research and Advocacy for Sustainability (ANPRAS). In theory, they know the world inside out, but none of them has ever left the small island. Mauritius is situated in the Indian Ocean 300 km east of Madagascar. Many wealthy Europeans come to visit, but for most Mauritians travelling abroad is too expensive. Instead Mauritians have the whole world at home. The seven friends have varied backgrounds. Mohungoo herself is Muslim, her friends are Tamil, Christian, Hindu and Telegu. "When anyone of us has a religious festival to celebrate, the others join in." This is common in Mauritius, which geographically belongs to Africa, but culturally stretches out to Australia and India. While speeding back towards Saint Louis, Warda Mohungoo points out remains of colonial times. Since Arab and Indian sailors discovered the uninhabited island in the 15th century, Chinese, French, British, Portuguese and Dutch fought over it. After the island received independence from France in 1968, their descendants have been living together peacefully. "We don't have any natural resources to export", the 23-year-old says, looking out of the window, where the Indian Ocean keeps piling up dramatic clouds. "But maybe our cultural diversity is our strength". Hopefully it is this strength that will enable Mauritians to meet the challenges they face in the future as they move towards sustainable tourism and adapt to the effects of climate change.