Tourism Resilience and Value Capture in Mauritius: Evidence from Tourist Arrivals and Gross Tourism Earnings, 2010–2025

Mauritius, as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), depends heavily on tourism and is therefore exposed to external shocks; this study examines how the sector’s performance and value capture evolved from 2010 to 2025, with particular attention to the COVID-19 disruption and subsequent recovery. The analysis uses only secondary data, combining arrivals and source-market breakdowns published by the Ministry of Tourism with the monthly series of gross tourism earnings released by the Bank of Mauritius. Trends and seasonality are described for both arrivals and earnings, and three indicators are derived to support interpretation: revenue per arrival (as a proxy for value capture), the intensity of seasonality, and the concentration of source markets. The results document the magnitude of the pandemic-related break, trace the timing of the rebound, and show how value capture and market concentration shifted between the pre- and post-COVID periods. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for resilience in island destinations, highlighting the need for diversification and higher-value positioning, and proposing a replicable monitoring approach that can be updated as new official data become available.