allAfrica.com: Mauritius: Bring Back Mark Twain (Page 1 of 3)

Mauritius has an excellent brand image for visitors derived from its capacity and experience in dealing with high-end tourists in a way that other sectors like textiles and financial services don't or can't. Its current marketing campaign is a good move to improve its prospects but the concept "Mauritius was made first, and then heaven" from Mark Twain could be the real booster.

Like for the Emerald Isle, the concept of paradise must stand side by side with global and fast-expanding financial and ICT sectors as In Caudan Waterfront.

I met a Bengali friend for lunch the other day at a café on one of the side streets off Brick Lane in the heart of London's Bangladeshi community. We were waiting for our food to arrive and so almost inevitably the conversation turned towards summer holiday destinations. My friend hadn't taken a holiday last year because of the pressures of work so he was very keen to get away with his family this August.

He told me he was thinking about two destinations, Ireland and Croatia. "My wife and I have wanted to visit Ireland for some time now," he said as he played with his paper napkin. "We've heard so much about the Emerald Isle and it's only an hour's flight from Heathrow." It was obvious from his account that he had learnt about the legendary friendliness of the Irish people and the open roads where - outside the major cities like Cork and Dublin - you can drive for miles without meeting another vehicle and take in the often spectacular scenery.

My friend didn't really know much about Croatia other than that the country had once been part of the former Yugoslavia and that it had been established after a bitter and bloody civil war. He told me that he was only thinking about Croatia because his wife's friend had a holiday home there, which the family could use for nothing. "But I'm not sure I want to go there if I am honest," he said.

"Hmm," I said weighing up the relative advantages and disadvantages of both destinations in my mind. "The problem with Ireland is that you never know when it will rain. It's not called the Emerald Isle for nothing - it's certainly very green but that's because of the amount of water that comes out of the sky.

When it rains, it really rains. It's not like the stuff we have in London where you get a bit of drizzle every now and again. In Ireland it comes straight off the Atlantic and it's so heavy the windscreen wipers of your car won't be able to clear it. Both my parents were born in Ireland and I've been there enough times to know what I'm talking about."

My friend looked thoughtful. "Of course, you might be lucky," I added keen not to denigrate the land of my ancestors. "It might not rain at all in which case you and the family will have a fantastic holiday. There are few places in the world which can match Ireland if the weather's good. On the other hand, if you go to Croatia you'll be guaranteed sunshine. Someone I know went there last year and said that the islands off the coast were more beautiful than those he had visited in Greece."

My friend who had been listening intently to what I had been saying suddenly declared: "I've made up my mind -- we're going to go to the Emerald Isle!"

I'm not sure exactly how long Ireland has been called the Emerald Isle but it's certainly for as long as I can remember. In fact, the two names are interchangeable as the conversation with my friend demonstrates. However, I do not know - and neither did my friend - what positive word is associated with Croatia which explains very clearly why he wasn't motivated to go there.

But my friend's decision to visit Ireland for the annual family holiday does demonstrate the importance of a suitably evocative word or phrase linked to a destination in motivating people to part with their hard-earned cash - even if they are faced with the prospect of rain when they arrive.

But a good brand can do a lot more than support a country's tourist industry. Indeed, one of the reasons why Ireland has enjoyed enormous success since the early 1990s - moving from an economy with an agricultural focus to a knowledge-based one - is that it has enjoyed excellent brand recognition for many years courtesy of the Emerald Isle tagline.

In fact, Ireland has become a magnet for inward investment from high-value multi-nationals including Apple, Dell, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft and Pfizer with the result that it now has the second highest per capita income of any country in the EU after Luxembourg (which is why economists now refer to it as the Celtic Tiger).

So I was very interested to learn that an assessment of the "brand positioning strategy" of Mauritius has been commissioned recently. It's very understandable: Mauritius like any country making its way in the new global economy is trying to do the best for its citizens and is attempting to leverage growth by telling the world that it is not just a tourist destination but can offer a lot more besides - sugar and textiles, of course, but also the fast expanding financial services and ICT sectors.

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