Consultations have intensified among tourism partners in Mauritius with a view to opening borders to international travel around mid-2021.

According to a statement by the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), working groups have been set up to define travel protocols and evaluate optimal air connectivity options in addition to designing global communications campaigns for the restart of tourism.

MTPA pointed to a recent Iata report that highlighted that international travel was expected to recover to more than 50% of pre-COVID levels before the end of the year.

Iata noted that travel would recover faster than expected because of the rapidly growing vaccinated population and advancement in testing. Developed countries are expected to vaccinate more than 50% of their populations by the third quarter of 2021.

According to an MTPA spokesperson, Mauritius has secured enough vaccine orders to meet its vaccination targets and achieve herd immunity within the next few months.

Analysts say that some people have accumulated savings during the lockdown, which may total up to 10% of the GDP in some countries. Iata expects global passenger numbers to surpass pre-COVID-19 levels as early as 2023.