Mauritius will fully open its borders by October 1, granting vaccinated South Africans the opportunity to travel to another destination.
But, most of them are not only looking to travel the gorgeous Indian Ocean island but they also want to purchase homes there.
“South Africans make up the second-largest number of foreign investors in Mauritius, next to the French,” said Isabelle Hardy, Branch Manager for Rawson Properties Mauritius.
Hardy said South Africans were drawn to the destination because of it political stability, strong economy, productive business environment, great tax incentives, excellent schools, low crime rate, world-class healthcare and excellent quality of life.
"With borders reopening and interest rates at record lows, a lot more South Africans are expected to push play on plans to relocate their families and businesses onto Mauritian soil," she said.
Hardy said buying property in Mauritius was the "easiest way to get Mauritian residency".
She said travellers would need to invest in one of the designated real estate schemes, including Property Development Scheme (PDS), Integrated Resort Scheme (IRS), Real Estate Scheme (RES), Smart City Scheme (SCS) or G+2.
Each scheme has its own benefits and price points, with buy-ins ranging from MUR 6 million (around R2-million) to $370 000 (R5.3-million).
Hardy said top locations for South Africans included Black River and Tamarin on the West Coast.
She said North Coast properties in Grand Baie, Pointe aux Cannonier, Calodyne and Grand Gaube were also popular with foreign nationals.
"Investment for emigration purposes is common for South Africans, and so is buy-to-let.
“Luxury rentals do particularly well thanks to our strong tourism market, and could experience a significant boom as borders reopen and travel resumes," she said.
Pauline Gallagher, the chief executive of Halcyon & Partners, said Mauritius had grown in popularity.
"We’ve been watching Mauritius for quite a while now and have started to see a significant upsurge of interest. This is quite an interesting shift, given many people had been opting for European destinations such as Portugal or Greece in preference to somewhere virtually on the doorstep," she said.