Tourism Impacts in Mauritius

When we talk about the Tourism Industry it is understood that it deals with tourist activities, and tourist activities take place in an environment. Therefore it is imperative to say that tourism is environment dependent. The environment comprises of everything that is around us that us physical and human environment..

Social cultural impacts are related to changes in societal value systems, individual behavior, and social relationships, lifestyles, modes of expression and community structures. The impacts described in this project are related to the effects on the host communities of direct and indirect relations with tourists, and of interaction with the tourism industry.

Facilities developed for tourism can benefits residents: People living in the region of Flic- En -Flac and Wolmar can also benefits from the facilities provided by the government in order to supply a good and efficient service to our Tourists. The government has made provision for facilities such as medical services, transport improvements, restaurant, new sport, rules and regulations to ensure safety for tourists for example beach police and good road network.

Tourism as a force of peace: Most local people in the location are in contact with tourism and it has helped them in the contribution of better understanding between individuals and cultures. Furthermore, they have acquired knowledge , skills and this encourages them to share it to the younger generations which will maintain and develop a mutual sympathy and understanding resulting a reduction of prejudices in the future at the destination and all over the country.

Job Level friction: Although we have seen all these positive impacts, we cannot overlook the negative socio-cultural impacts that exist on people of this locality. First of all the distribution of jobs in hotels create a lot of anger and frustration among employees because it has been seen that most of the high level posts are held by expatriates whereas local people are given jobs as waiters, barmen, receptionists and many other lower level jobs.

Increase cost of living: We can see that facilities and services that are provided in these regions are very expensive because they are mostly meant for tourists.

Crime generation: Moreover, mass tourism has also given rise to many crimes in our society. Many people tend to thieves. They rob tourists in order to make easy money.

Acculturation: Another problem that can be noticed in Flic-en-Flac. In the process of adopting another culture our local people are for getting their own culture. Almost 90% of people residing and working in Flic-en-Flac and Wolmar have changed their life style.

Prostitution and Sex tourism: There are many girls and women who become prostitute in order to make money easily because tourist pays high prices.

Loss of authenticity: In the hotels we often celebrate different types of religious rituals and festivals to entertain the guests.

Based on the all information we been able to collect, we can affirm that tourism remains a vital force for the destination. Today tourist visit the destination is a significant way and the number continues to rise.