The problem of every country with regards to its tourism industry is that tourists themselves don't recognize when to stop. The abusive power of foreign and local visitors is a very big problem for pristine locations that like to conserve cleanliness and exoticism. With the issue at hand, the Mauritius government has issued an effort to clean its beaches. All of its best intentions are focused on preserving and saving its tourism industry. The initiation of this campaign will likely go a long way to making the environment more attractive to tourist and foreign investors.
The Ministry of Tourism and Leisure faces a very big challenge. The problem of littering threatens the overall health of its beaches and its waters. It also threatens to hurt the image it wants to convey to tourists worldwide. It begs to question whether the government is actually doing something to protect its resources.
The Indian Ocean Island is the beach that the Republic of Mauritius is proud of. The beach is famous for its numerous palm trees and its white sand and blue crystal waters are what bring in thousands of tourists year round. It is no doubt that the island is one of the major tourism destinations which rake in a percent of the government annual produce.
In all sense, the campaign initiated by the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure mandates stiffer fines placed for would-be wrongdoers who ignore the environmental laws. The campaign is respectful of its visitors, yet has no room for letting anyone abuse it. The theme of the campaign is "To Zete To Tasse" which stands for "you drop it, you're in trouble." This message is meant for the coastal areas as there is a large percentage of tourist traffic in these areas. The responsibility of every citizen is to ensure that their surroundings are clean. The mere fact that these laws mandate fines is because the government wants what's best for the environment.
The cleaning campaign does not only endeavor to place stiffer fines, but also it endeavors to clean its beaches through sheer workforce. Plans also include planting more trees throughout the coast. This effort is part of the investments made to make the beach more attractive to tourists.
A population of 1.3 million people is a very big number to consider. Consumerism produces a lot of excesses which contribute to a lot of problems for the government. The best effort is making sure that there are many bins situated along the location. In hopes of influencing more participation from people, these bins mean a lot more to the government.
The public will also be educated in the workings of this new campaign. It has for a while attempted to convey the message to its people. With stiffer fines being implemented as of current, the government wants the public to know that it is serious in its battle with environment degradation. The laws were implemented as of 2007, yet the message was not as clear as previously thought, the public continued to litter the coast with waste.
With everything that is going on, the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure says that the deposit of waste in marine areas is strictly illegal. Pollutants in the form of chemicals both solid and liquid dumped in the beach will be heavily paid for by those guilty.
The Mauritius government does not lack in allies. The cleaning campaign is heavily funded by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainability. Waste begets the negative impact that hurts the country's image. Foreign perception is very important in restoring the tourism sector to what it once was.