THE QUESTION OF OPENING THE BORDERS,

AGAIN AND AGAIN

We as tourism workers have been experiencing hard times for several months. We are in good health, thank God, but nevertheless, prisoners in our own country. The ship wreck of the Wakashio is still a burden of life that will weight heavily on our shoulders. This great uncertainty in our expertise in the matter makes us even more worried. Perhaps this is an opportunity to learn an important lesson.

The tourism industry as a whole in Mauritius, as elsewhere, is calling for our borders to be opened. Not for the few long-stay clients in Barbados but in general. "He who is too careful accomplishes little, as Schiller wrote or Sophocles wisely reminds us that" Heaven never helps men who do not act ". The opening of borders is an agonizing question that we inevitably ask ourselves all the time because we are in a blur and total confusion. 

The magnitude of the economic and social impact is alarming. It is indisputable that the protection of the population is paramount. No one disputes this fact. There is no more respectable civility. Until the time a vaccine is found, we will have to live with the virus. This is a serious matter, there are risks but they must be addressed. In the meantime, we are bearing the brunt of the repercussions of this crisis. 

At the moment, for our tour operators, in addition to the Air Mauritius saga, an important link in our local tourism, credibility is crumbling, confidence is being lost, and we are in despair. This is also true, with the opening of the borders in the Maldives and the Seychelles without quarantine, we find ourselves in an inescapable demand for regional competitiveness. The sanitary protocol, without quarantine, is the indisputable solution with of course a notion of everyone's responsibilities as a priority. We absolutely have to find a balanced and united solution and overcome the crisis. Rigor is necessary and we will win if we change our behavior. It seems it is time, and time is running out, to react and open our borders, by controlling it through a charter of conduct for our tourists and also the duties of the citizen.

Christian Lefèvre