Merveilleux Mauritius!!

Two words came to mind when researching Mauritius – Island Life…with Mojito’s on the beach, drinking cocktails from a hollow pineapple and lazy days in paradise. But Mauritius must be much more than surface-level, dream vacation and the perfect honeymoon destination? Cue the tanning lotion and beach fiesta under a white linen parasol! Its tropical climate and sparkling beaches offer a plethora of water sports activities offering tranquility in paradise. As a Media Researcher at KMP Media, I’d been given the perfect opportunity to find out just how “solid” this island is and what value its’ people and tourism add to advertising! As a Researcher, it’s important to understand Mauritius and gain more insight into the country and its people. This means switching off the beach part of my brain and switching on the Beta part to get to work…

As a Researcher, it’s important to understand Mauritius and gain more insight into the country and its people. This means switching off the beach part of my brain and switching on the Beta part to get to work…

The Island has a population of around 1.2 million inhabitants with its capital city Port Louis. Imagine trying to figure out who REALLY lives there and who’s just sticking around for extended holidays. I had a chuckle at that thought! According to the research, Mauritius has an ageing society. In a sense this did not surprise me – who wouldn’t want to retire in paradise???

The dominant languages spoken in Mauritius are Hindi, Creole, English and French. For someone who is interested and invested in societal issues, it was refreshing to learn that equality is actively progressing with planned frameworks over the last few years in Mauritius. As with most African countries, and despite it being a small island, the rural population is dominant with urban dwellers coming in at 40.8%.?

Why is this important? For media analysis, this is indicative that a majority of media consumers are living in the rural areas and may be more limited to the type of media they have access to and this would determine the type of media used to reach this audience. TV and radio remain key media vehicles iro reaching local people and outdoor as a medium is key to promote and market businesses where location is important in terms of daily commute patterns and tourists. Considering this information, Mauritius is still currently deemed an advanced and luxury tourist destination, putting it in a distinct and unique category, which is not normally considered when looking at demographics. In short, as a media buyer you would more than likely be looking at reaching tourists and holidaymakers at holiday resorts on the coast and in higher income brackets, whilst the majority of the locals and permanent residents fall into a very different LSM. In a nutshell, targeted social media and outdoor advertising where advertisers effectively reach an international audience and a more integrated campaign to include TV and radio to reach local target markets would be the strategy to adopt.???

Considering the online and social media landscape - one would assume that with this being an island and a place to relax and escape from everyday life, the internet would be banished! Novel thought…but no. There are approximately 827 000 internet users on average with approximately 1 million social media users in this confined geographical space. Once again, I am left wondering if these stats are based more on tourism consumption than the population, as I don’t think there would be many Baby Boomers jumping at the opportunity to add to growing the TikTok gallery. This is why more traditional media like TV and Radio are still reliable channels used to communicate with the local population. The most popular TV stations are MBC 1, MBC2, BTV Mauritius, Senn Kreole, YSTV and a number of Indian TV stations. For digital media and online magazines some of the most popular names I came across were Le Matinal, Scope Magazine, Turf magazine, L’ express and Le Défi Media.?

As a toddler I was fortunate enough to visit this beautiful island, however, as an adult I don’t recall many of those memories. The food, culture and the experience sound like a reason for another visit. I would love another opportunity to explore the beauty of Mauritius again and now with more insight and perspective to appreciate the island not only as a holiday and tourist destination, but also as a growing economical hub with expanding media opportunities to reach a unique, yet diverse, population.

I am continuously learning and Mauritius is a market which offers advertisers either already in market or looking to extend their reach great options…talk to us at KMP Media : We’ve Got Africa Covered!???

Blog contribution by Jasleen Kaur - Media Researcher