Madagascar: Interest Conditioning for Emirates

A letter was sent to that effect to the Emirates airline, has indicated that the boss of Tourism. However, he stressed that the coming of a company of this magnitude requires several preparations, including in infrastructure. " If Madagascar opens its skies now, we risk facing real problems. We will not have enough infrastructure to collect the tourists , "he says.

A great business opportunity

Irene Andreas, former Minister of Tourism and current President of the Board of " National Tourism Development"confirms this concern infrastructure. According to her, the airline could be a real opportunity for tourism development in Madagascar. However, we must take precautions. " Emirates could serve to combine other items. But if its customers are mainly by Arabs, it would be better to give an island, for example, at his disposal. It may thus build luxurious facilities that would meet their demand , "said the specialist sector.

Apparently, Arab tourists are very demanding in terms of standard and quality infrastructure and demand more appropriate to their lifestyle. " But by cons, if the company goes back clientele that Africa as other countries of the South, it would be really interesting , "she says.

Despite this interest conditioned on the Big Island, the Emirates airline has not yet publicly disclosed if the destination end Madagascar's interested or not. " Emirates is used to move a country to see firsthand the facilities and opportunities afforded by the destination. It is based on these findings it decides to move or not. And for the case of Madagascar, I can not yet say if the market finally interested or not , "says Siobhan Bardet, head of public relations of the Emirates Group.

Distrust of some officials

If Emirates is seen as an opportunity tourism, intrusive sources indicates that the arrival of Emirates in the Big Island is not the wish of everyone. Some officials fear the consequences it could have on the Malagasy national company. With the current situation of Air Madagascar, the arrival of Emirates could indeed be fatal to him as such was the case with Air Seychelles. Indeed, Seychelles has opted for the open sky in 2005. This decision began bringing other companies such as Etihad Airways, the national airline of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar Airways and Emirates, of course. Seychelles national carrier has not supported this competition and failed to make a fatal crash until Etihad has decided to hold out his hand and has purchased 40% of its work in January.