Mauritius reported a 96% plunge in revenue from tourism in the first half as the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions deterred people from traveling to the Indian Ocean island.
Revenue was dropped to 578 million rupees ($13.6 million) from 16.08 billion rupees a year ago, according to the Port Louis-based Bank of Mauritius. Revenue in June fell to 20 million rupees from 383 million rupees.
Tourism is a major source of foreign currency for Mauritius and the industry may rebound as from the fourth quarter with reopening of borders to vaccinated tourists. Statistics Mauritius forecast arrivals of about 325,000 people in 2021 compared with 308,980 a year ago.
