Donald Payen has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Tourism Promotion Authority. He is Senior Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism of Mauritius since August 2020. He took up the role after spending 41 years at Air Mauritius, the national airline of Mauritius, where he held several senior positions in the areas of commerce, communication, customer experience, digitalization and operations. His main role in the Ministry was to advise the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry on the reopening of the borders and the restart of tourism.
Gentlemanly and elegant in his approach, Donald Payen is the right man to help the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) take a new step. Especially since he will work alongside Arvind Bundhun who is already doing a tremendous job. Donald Payen was awarded the British Empire Medal at a special ceremony at Westminster House on August 12, 2022. In the past, this seasoned aviation and tourism professional was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic. Gilles Huberson had, during a ceremony organized at the Residence of France, in Floréal, recalled the long career of Donald Payen notably within the national airline Air Mauritius and especially praised his respect of humanistic principles.
Commenting on his appointment, he said, “I am honoured and humbled by the continued trust placed in me. I have been a member of the Board of the Tourist Office on several occasions since my first appointment in 2003 and look forward to carrying on with the work done to build back (tourism) better.
“In this context, I would like to pay tribute to my predecessors and to all those who have worked, and equally those who are currently working so hard for their contribution in making tourism an important pillar of our economy, a pillar we can all be proud of. Our priority remains to return to the level of activity we had prior to the pandemic. We will focus on delivering on this objective in the true spirit of public/private partnership (including ALL partners) spearheaded by the Ministry of Tourism, which remains the cornerstone of our modus operandi at the MTPA.”
