[Dietmar]

Hi Titus,

hows the christmas celebration going down there in Reunion ? Here people are shopping like crazy and carrying all those goods with whatever means they can.

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Originally Posted by Dietmar View Post

we would be in groups going to Reunion. Actually, both countries would benefit. Reunion would get more of its empty hotels filled, and Mauritius more Euros...
The hotels are not really empty (in that case, it wouldn't make much sense to build them). On school holidays (mainly August and around Christmas/New Year) you might have problems to find rooms or rental cars.
That's changed a little bit since "Chikungunya" - tourism here has still not recovered 100%."

Ok, good to know that.

"But service is not the same (4waiters have to to the same work as 10 in Mauritius). But that's the way the must handle business here. Too much charges.
That means also more stress on the personal, and due to our high unemployment rate, also few professional perspectives. Unluckily."

Well, thats coming to Mauritius to. Hotels are kicking out personal at the moment. My friend in hotelry is telling me that Naiade Group of Hotels did a record in kicking out about 150 workers, and many other hotel groups are doing the same. Apparently its because less tourists are coming... But they'll need to be careful and work hard to keep up the level of service to keep the 5 Star levels.

"But we got also some natural sites, Mauritius will never top: our vulcano, the "Cirques", mountains, hiking, waterfalls, that's also another kind of client that comes here."

Yes, not only do you have nice sites, but your sites are not so small like the ones here. Here, any site you have, is not very big. Most of the land has been put to use for agriculture. Sugar cane everywhere.

But this is also more what I would like to see and enjoy.

"Still, we have only around 1/3 of tourists that you have. And we will never come up to 100%. That's not the question.
I actually prefer as it is. But in other business sectors we could be more performant."

...and in those other business sectors, Mauritius will surpass Reunion. I'm pretty sure about that. What do you think ?

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regarding artists & surgery:

Interesting that they are coming here now. Maybe in future this will also happen in some other sectors. be plastic surgery...
lol! I won't mind if our girls will get some big boops
Maybe also a good idea for Mauritian ladies"

Lol! You for sure can make me laugh! But definitely you have some of those clinics here, like hair transplantation. And now look who is coming:
Apollo Bramwell Hospital
This will create some new competition in the mauritian medecine industry. They also want to promote more tourism medecine now...
Usually when there is a surgery that Mauritian doctors cannot do, mauritians go to Reunion, South Africa or India. Maybe this might change in future, and people from Reunion might come here... Maybe for cheaper dentists. Like its happening in Europe where people go to eastern european countries to get cheaper health care...

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Mada also lacks a good highway. But the new president is pushing the progress forward. To the people I talked, most of them seem to like their new president and are happy with his new developments.

Been in Tana, big city, seen stuff there i haven't ever seen before, like its poverty level.
Exactly, poverty also sometimes shocked me. I've see things in Mada, I'd never imagined (thought I had been to more than 15 countries in africa before). 2-3 things i've seen their still haunt me.
But this also gives you another way of thinking about the sense of live."

Yes, thats what I thought to, there is a lot we can learn there and from them to.

"I'm not so sure about the new president. Unfortunatly I don't see enough changes. He did some quite big shit too.
But anyway, impossible that he's doing worse than Ratsiraka. Madagascar only can improve."

Yes, thats something many businessmen in Mada still have to struggle with its their high rate of corruption. The people are happy as long something is done for the country and they see some progress even if there is some "big shit" happening aside from that. Definitely, with the past they had, even a little progress, already mean much. Madagascar was once a very prosperous nation exporting livestock, rice and much more. They had a great university that attracted students of the region to go there to study and Tana was called the "Paris" of the Indian Ocean, i think it was back then in the sixties...