Mauritius has concluded the adoption of the Mauritius Declaration on Digitalisation and Sustainable Tourism.

The Declaration was the culmination of recommendations put forward by global tourism stakeholders and policymakers who convened at an international conference hosted in Pointe aux Piments last week, to discuss the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation for the global tourism industry.

The conference was attended by tourism ministers, heads of tourism boards and 400 Mauritius tourism professionals. Representatives from Seychelles, Réunion, Ghana, Sudan, Madagascar, Rodrigues, and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation were all in attendance.

Recommendations put forward in the Declaration include:

• The creation of a Working Group on Digital Platforms.
• Development of a sustainable and diverse tourism industry, reskilling the workforce in line with policies of creating environmentally friendly tourism.
• Rigorous application of ‘green ICT’ techniques to ensure minimal environmental impacts.
• The implementation of geoinformatic technology for use in conservation, particularly of marine environments.
• The development of national frameworks for the regulation of private information in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.
• The promotion of cultural heritage.