Mauritius Research Articles

A fuzzy based sustainability assessment tool for small island states

The global change between human activities and the natural environment has evolved with technological growth and economic development. Due to their size and small population, small island states have become the most vulnerable to these irreversible changes. These have raised the importance for taking some initiatives for human benefits, economic welfare and environmental protection. Sustainable practices and performance measurement are important for these small island states. The purpose of this paper was to develop a quantitative modelling tool to measure sustainability performance for small island states while considering the three sustainability spheres namely environment, economic and social in an integrated manner. A Sustainability Assessment Tool for Small Island States (SATIS) was developed based on a fuzzy methodological approach which used sustainability indicators for the three dimensions. The research began by identifying the indicators for Mauritius island which were then selected according to their level of importance for this research study through an expert survey. Data was then collected and applied to the proposed model. A Sensitivity analysis was conducted in order to stress on the most influencing factors that were affecting the overall system. The model was then validated using recent data. It was observed that fuzzy logic approach has shown great reasoning capabilities which traditional mathematical tools failed to produce. The fuzzy based methodological approach was found to be a remarkable tool for monitoring sustainability performance in small island states. To conclude, this model is recommended for sustainability assessment. Practitioners can apply this modelling technique to track sustainability performance of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Diversity and Introduction History of Glycaspis brimblecombei Reflects a History of Bridgeheads and Distinct Invasions

Glycaspis brimblecombei is an invasive insect pest of Eucalyptus that has spread rapidly around the world since its first report in California in 1998. The pest now occurs on at least four continents where Eucalyptus is grown as a non-native plantation species. To characterize global routes of invasion for this insect, we characterized the sequences of a portion of the Cytochrome Oxidase 1 (COI) gene from 105 individuals from the invasive and native range, including from Australia, Brazil, Chile, La Réunion, Mauritius, South Africa and the United States. In addition, we developed 13 polymorphic microsatellite markers, of which we used 11 to characterize the diversity in the same 105 specimens. Our results suggest that there have been two independent introduction events from Australia, which is assumed to be the origin, to distinct parts of the adventive range. The first introduction was into the United States, from where it appears to have spread to South America and eventually to South Africa. This finding highlights the threat of bridgehead populations to accelerate pest invasions in Eucalyptus, even if those populations are on widespread non-commercial populations of Eucalyptus (as in California). A second introduction appears to have occurred on the islands of Mauritius and La Réunion and provides another example of the establishment of independent lineages of invasive global insect pests. This complex invasion pattern mirrors that found in other Eucalyptus pests.

Need for sensitization on serious threats of second-hand smoke: Findings from a national study in Mauritius, a small island developing state in the Indian Ocean

This study had the following objectives: To assess the level of knowledge of Mauritians aged ≥ 20 years on the health effects of Second Hand Smoke (SHS), to investigate their behaviour when exposed to SHS and to look for any association between SHS-related knowledge and behaviour towards exposure. A national cross-sectional online survey was conducted. With the total population of Mauritians above the age of 20 years being 941,719, the calculated sample size was 400. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data among respondents from all 9 districts of the island of Mauritius, with representative district-wise samples. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 19.0. Considering the findings of the study, there were 408 respondents: Two-thirds of participants showed good knowledge of the harmful effects of SHS. Participants were aware of the link of SHS to respiratory diseases, nonetheless, they were not aware of its causes for non-respiratory diseases. One out of four participants (25.5%) were not aware that maternal passive smoking causes preterm delivery. More than one-third of the participants (37.3%) did not know that passive smoking causes sudden infant death syndrome. Inadequate levels of knowledge were also revealed by authors in other developing countries. We thus recommend bold sensitization campaigns about the serious threats of SHS. We highlight the pertinence of longitudinal cohort studies with assessment of SHS-related knowledge/behaviour before and after health education campaigns, in Mauritius and other developing countries.

An assessment of the underlying relationship between land transportation and climate change: Case study Mauritius

Introduction: Land transportation encompasses the movement of people and goods and is therefore a major contributor of global greenhouses gases. The main share of such emissions is mostly from the release of carbon dioxide into the air as a result of burning transportation fuels obtained from petroleum, a major driver of climate change. While today the defining issue is a changing climate, the number of vehicles on roads keep on rising around the world. Materials and methods: This study assessed the relationship between land transportation and climate change using a system dynamics model based on a 3-layered taxonomy using Mauritius Island as case study. Over 100 papers were analyzed and the variables that link land transportation and climate change in the Mauritian context were selected and a taxonomy divided into sub-units was built. Results: This innovative taxonomy was divided into 3 sections related to the land transportation sector including a vehicle layer, transport system layer and society layer. Using these variables, three stock and flow diagrams were constructed on Vensim, namely climate change impacts, transport related carbon dioxide and socio-economic models. Conclusion: While there is a complex relationship between land transportation and climate change globally, Mauritius must find ways to become more climate friendly in the land transportation sector.

Techno-Economic Analysis of Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Plus Battery Power Plant

Decarbonizing the global power sector is a key requirement to fight climate change. Consequently, the deployment of renewable energy (RE) technologies, notably solar photovoltaic (PV), is proceeding rapidly in many regions. However, in many of these regions, the evening peak is predominantly being served by fossil-fired generators. Furthermore, as the evening peak is projected to increase in the coming years, there are plans to install more fossil-fired peaking generators. A cleaner alternative is to enable solar PV plants to provide clean power after sunset by pairing them with large-scale lithium-ion batteries to provide evening peak generation. In this work, we performed a techno-economic analysis of a solar PV plus battery (PVB) power plant using the island of Mauritius as a case study. We assessed the impacts of the battery size, inverter loading ratio (ILR), tracking type, and curtailment on the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The main results show that the LCOE of utility-scale PVB systems are comparable to that of fossil-fired peaking generators for this case study. Tracking was shown to exacerbate the clipping loss problem and its benefits on LCOE reduction decrease as the ILR increases. The availability of the PVB system to serve the evening peak was found to be high. The curtailment analysis also showed that planners must not rely solely on storage, but rather should also improve grid flexibility to keep PVB integration affordable. Overall, the practical insights generated will be useful to utility planners in charting their generation expansion strategy.

MedicPlant: A mobile application for the recognition of medicinal plants from the Republic of Mauritius using deep learning in real-time

<p>To facilitate the recognition and classification of medicinal plants that are commonly used by Mauritians, a mobile application which can recognise seventy different medicinal plants has been developed. A convolutional neural network (CNN) based on the TensorFlow framework has been used to create the classification model. The system has a recognition accuracy of more than 90%. Once the plant is recognised, a number of useful information is displayed to the user. Such information includes the common name of the plant, its English name and also its scientific name. The plant is also classified as either exotic or endemic followed by its medicinal applications and a short description. Contrary to similar systems, the application does not require an internet connection to work. Also, there are no pre-processing steps, and the images can be taken in broad daylight. Furthermore, any part of the plant can be photographed. It is a fast and non-intrusive method to identify medicinal plants. This mobile application will help the Mauritian population to increase their familiarity of medicinal plants, help taxonomists to experiment with new ways of identifying plant species, and will also contribute to the protection of endangered plant species.</p>

The Unpredictable Lightness of History in Nicolas Cavaillès’ Novellas on the Mauritius Islands

Nicolas Cavaillès ponders on a philosophy of history mixed with humour and irony in his historical narratives of remote islands in the Indian Ocean in two of his novellas: Life of Mr. Legaut (the story of a Huguenot who is forced to leave his native France and travels to these islands) and The Dead on the Donkey, where the wanderings of un unfortunate donkey across the Mauritius Island allow the narrator to relate the history of the island and its tragic trajectory to modernity. The idea of Western history as progressive evolution is rolled upside down with irony in Cavaillès's philosophical reflection on the circumstances leading to colonial expeditions in Life of Mr. Leguat (2013) and in the successive destruction of the Mauritius Island in the novella The Dead on the Donkey (2018). If Cavaillès builds his books hermeneutically, he also defies hermeneutics by denying all forms of possible understanding of the events described. The actions of his protagonists, human or animal, are the result of circumstances that are well known, but so absurd that they cannot form a historical narrative. If they did, this narrative would look like a hybrid of Beckett's absurd and Cioran's despair. Anti-Hegelian, since history here does not lead to individual freedom, Cavaillès's conception of history equally challenges Nietzsche's representation of unhistorical temporality in an attempt to solve humanity’s relation to the past for enacting a more desirable future. In far away Edenic islands, colonized by powerful states and inhabited by human and animal slaves, no philosophy could make sense of history.

The Contributing Factors of Carbon Footprints Among Hotels on the Island of Mauritius: A Comparative Analysis

The tourism and hospitality industry is a worldwide known trillion-dollar industry and a major economic generator for several economies. Despite a positive economic contributor, the challenges of the tourism industry cannot be overlooked. The tourism industry is right now definitely more involved on the broader aspects of sustainable tourism but nevertheless still contributes 8% of the GHG emissions globally. This work aims at identifying and addressing the main contributing areas responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions for the hotel industry in Mauritius. A quantitative approach based on an adapted framework of the hotel carbon measurement initiative (HCMI) was used to collect data from four hotels with different ratings and which were selected through convenience sampling. Land use for buildings, energy consumption and emissions, refrigerants being used in the hotel, water consumption and wastes being produced are researched as major contributors of GHG from the hotels and these were captured and analyzed. Comparatively, the findings revealed that the carbon footprint for 4-star, 5-star and 5-star plus hotels were found to be lower than the average carbon footprint of other hotels of similar categories worldwide. However, for 3-star hotels, the latter was found to be higher. Plausible recommendations were made accordingly to reduce carbon emissions for each hotel type.

Investigating Composting as a Mitigation Strategy for Climate Change Using a Modelling Approach

The waste management sector accounts for 19% of greenhouse gases produced by the island of Mauritius, and is second to the energy sector which contributes about 77% of total emissions. Significant mitigating measures are being sought to reduce the impact of the waste sector. The main greenhouse gas produced from waste in Mauritius is methane from landfill disposal. Among the different alternate waste management scenarios proposed, home composting is one strategy to achieve carbon reductions in the sector. However, this target can only be achieved if the composting process is properly controlled. Objectively, a lumped parameter model was used to analyse the set of variation parameters to achieve greatest reduction in methane through optimal composting. The composting matrix was modelled as a point source. Mass balance equations were coupled with heat transport equations and reaction kinetics equations to determine the optimal set of parameters for efficient composting of yard waste and kitchen waste. The simulations demonstrated that bulking of vegetable waste prior to composting is required to prevent production of methane.

Analysis of extreme rainfall and drought events using statistical and fractal methods: A case study of Mauritius

Due to climate change, extreme rainfall and drought events are becoming more and more frequent in several regions of the globe. We investigated the suitability of employing statistical and fractal (or scaling) methods to characterise extreme precipitation and drought events. The case of the island of Mauritius was considered, for which monthly mean rainfall data for the period January 1950 to December 2016 were analysed. The generalised extreme value distribution was used to extract the 10- and 20-year return levels and the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) was used to identify anomalous wet and dry events. A log-term correlation analysis was also performed to characterise the relationship between maximum rainfall and its duration. The results indicate that the 10-year return level is approximately between 500 mm and 850 mm and the 20-year return level is between 600 mm and 1000 mm. Results also show that the extreme maximum rainfall events occur mostly during austral summer (November to April) and could be related to the effects of tropical cyclones and La Niña events, while anomalous dry events were found to be significantly persistent with very long periods of drought. Moreover, there was a strong correlation between maximum rainfall and its duration. The methodology used in this work could be very useful in similar studies for other Small Island Developing States.Significance: We show the usefulness of both statistical and fractal methods to understand occurrences of extreme precipitation events. We identify anomalous wet and dry events in rainfall time-series data using the Standardised Precipitation Index.

A first assessment of marine meso-litter and microplastics on beaches: Where does Mauritius stand?

Marine litter is a major global concern that is threatening marine ecosystems. This study assessed the meso-litter and microplastics density around Mauritius Island, South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region. WIOMSA guidelines were used for meso-litter and microplastics sampling from October to December 2019 at 12 sites. A total of 1095 meso-litter items (weighing 1250 g) was sampled. Plastics were the most abundant litter category. ‘Shoreline and recreational activities’ were the main meso-litter source. Microplastics density was highest at the vegetation line (VL) zone. Fragments, mostly blue-coloured, were the most encountered type of microplastics, and polyethylene was the most prevalent polymer type. This study provides important baseline data which can be used by relevant authorities for more effective waste management strategies and awareness campaigns that will help further mitigate the marine litter problem in Mauritius, and to check the effectiveness of management measures in place.

Understanding demographic limiting factors to species recovery: Nest-site suitability and breeding ecology of Phelsuma guentheri on Round Island, Mauritius

The island of Mauritius in the Mascarenes has already suffered high levels of extinction, and habitat destruction and invasive alien species have pushed many of the remaining endemic species to the brink of extinction. Round Island, a small island northeast of Mauritius, is home to remnant populations of several reptile species that were once distributed across Mauritius. One of the most threatened of these is Günther’s gecko Phelsuma guentheri, where despite extensive management efforts, population size remains small and below expectation. We identify determinants of nest-site suitability across Round Island, and examine whether suitable nest sites are a limiting factor for the abundance of P. guentheri. Over one breeding season, we recorded and monitored a high number (269) of nest sites harbouring a total of 1475 eggs. We used the number of eggs at each nest, and the hatching success as proxies for nest-site suitability. To study the reproductive behaviour of P. guentheri, we installed trail cameras at three nest sites. We did not find the expected high frequency of use of hardwood trees as nest sites, as found on Ile aux Aigrettes to the southeast of Mauritius, probably because hardwood trees are still relatively sparse and small on Round Island. Instead, the endemic palm Latania loddigesii was the most used nest sites, harbouring 78.8% of all nests with 56.3% of all eggs. Hatching success was high for palm nest sites (90.6%), rock surfaces (91.8%), and on the endemic screw pine Pandanus vandermeeschii (96%), rates that are similar to that reported from hardwood trees on Ile aux Aigrettes (~90%). Communal nesting occurred on all substrates, with up to five individuals using the same nest site. Egg-laying took place at dusk or at night, lasting around 30 min, whereas hatching occurred mostly during the day, lasting 2–107 min. Females laid eggs every 34 days on average, and produced up to four clutches of 1–2 eggs each within the season. We conclude that P. guentheri does not suffer from nest site limitation on Round Island, and that reproductive success is high in terms of both numbers of eggs laid and hatching success, likely due to ongoing habitat restoration. Further research is needed to investigate the factors inhibiting abundance and distribution of P. guentheri on Round Island.

An assessment of soft coral community (Octocorallia; Alcyonacea) around Mauritius and Rodrigues Islands — New records of soft corals

This study aims to assess the soft corals community around Mauritius and Rodrigues Island due to the limited research on the abundance and diversity of soft corals in the area. Seven soft corals species are newly reported from Mauritian waters. Triplicates of 5-metreline transect were used to survey soft corals at twelve different monitoring sites. Of the sites monitored for soft coral occurrence, the highest Margalef richness index and Shannon index (H’) values were obtained at Port Mathurin for Rodrigues Island and at Les Salines for Mauritius. Identification was carried out using both morphological characters and a DNA-based marker. The morphological identification process was based on the external form and colouration, type of colony growth; the type of polyps and colonies and sclerites analysis. 41 different species showed dissimilar characteristics, and results grouped the colonies to three different families; 32 colonies of Alcyoniidae, 3 of Nephtheidae and 6 of Xeniidae were obtained. To ascertain morphological classification, the longest non-coding region of the mitochondrial COI-COII intergenic spacer (IGS) (consisting of 122 nucleotides) was used to construct a molecular phylogeny that included 21 species of octocorals. The COI-COII IGS phylogeny recovered 5 well supported clades, which did not tally with the cladogram based on morphological characters. Three dendrograms based on morphological characters were constructed where the first one involved mapping of all the morphological characters onto the tree, the second one was based mainly on the type of sclerites present and the third one based on the collection depth of the samples. The dendrogram based on morphological markers clustered all the soft corals from the Alcyoniidae family aside from the other families. The second dendrogram clustered all the soft corals from the genus Sinularia, Lobophytum, Sarcophyton as well as Cladiella kashmani together, away from the soft corals with distinct sclerite form. Furthermore, the third dendrogram clustered the soft corals into 2 major clades, one clade clustering the soft corals which are ubiquitous and a larger clade including all soft corals collected from a depth of 0 m to above 20 m. As documented by other studies on octocorals, construction of the phylogenetic tree has led to an appreciation of the importance of genetic work which has been overlooked while using traditional morphological characters.

Sacred memory, creole orientalism and India in the plantationscape of Mauritius

This article disentangles the relationship between memory and the sacred through the life and selected writings of Léoville L’Homme (1857–1928), who rose to prominence as poet and journalist in the 19th century as sugar production expanded in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. A man of colour and a Christian, L’Homme instrumentalised genealogy, cultural memory and the sacred in the vindication of exclusive forms of social justice in what I call the Mauritian plantationscape. His carefully-crafted sacred memory project, heavily modulated by French and British Orientalism, and characterised by tension between memory and the sacred, resulted in the perpetuation of discursive and colonial injustice against India, the homeland of his grandmother, and Indian indentured labourers. After identifying signs of trauma underlying his strained cultural memory landscape and implication, I argue that the organic creolisation present in the colony intervenes to turn the Hindu Goddess Sita, with whom L’Homme sought poetic intimacy, into a symbol of desire for India. This symbol impels an intercultural dialogue where Christianity and Hinduism meet to repair and bestow a reparative vector upon sacred memory. Intercultural dialogue creolises Orientalism, L’Homme’s primary portal into Indian cultural memory, and Creole Orientalism impedes cultural erasure. This sacred and inherently gendered creole cultural memory matrix redresses L’Homme’s relationship with India, his Otherness and Indian cultural memory. It injects an ethical economy in his activism that promises new definitions of a Mauritian collective ahead of decolonisation which remain germane to considerations of identity in the multicultural island’s post-colonial era.

The changing face of the dodo (Aves: Columbidae:Raphus cucullatus): iconography of the Walghvogel of Mauritius

ABSTRACT The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a large, flightless pigeon endemic to the island of Mauritius (Indian Ocean). Its unusual appearance was recorded in several 17th-century depictions of live or recently killed birds. It became extinct at the end of the 17th century, and in some subsequent accounts, it was even considered as non-existent. Dodo images became rare from the mid-17th century, but its inclusion in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland initiated a change, establishing it as an icon to a much wider public. Since then, illustrations of dodos have been used in all kinds of media, arguably making it the most iconic extinct bird. Here we analyse how the dodo image evolved from 1600 to 2013, using 2D-geometric morphometrics. Our results show that in particular cartoons, animations and logos tend to put an extreme emphasis on the bulging anterior part of the beak, and that the beak is strongly hooked. The variation in dodo images has increased since 1865, culminating in an explosion of shapes during the past decades. The often exaggerated, cartoonesque depiction of the dodo is in line with the long-held but incorrect popular belief that it was a clumsy, tragic bird destined for extinction.

Assessment and management of coastal erosion: Insights from two tropical sandy shores in Mauritius Island

Rising sea level and increasing tropical storm frequency caused by the changing climate are threatening small Island economies which depend on their coastal environments and resources. Owing to the high socio-economic and environmental values of tropical sandy beaches, monitoring the evolution trends of shorelines are regarded as an essential strategy to improve the resilience of Island states. The present study conducted in Mauritius, indicates a net erosional effect at Le Morne amounting to 8049.7 ± 5% m2 which is attributed to the hydrodynamics of the lagoon, whilst a net accretional effect has been observed at Flic-en-Flac, equivalent to 6571.3 ± 5% m2 and attributed to periodic beach nourishments. The shoreline evolution at Le Morne is predominantly influenced by Passe de la Prairie where an average energy of 0.162 m2/Hz, corresponding to an average wave height of 1.16 m, carries enough energy and momentum to influence the sediment transport near the peninsula. At Flic-en-Flac, longshore currents propagating on either sides of the central region and directed northwards and southwards influence the shoreline, resulting in an accretion zone extending 62.5 ± 15 m near Villa Caroline over the 2009–2018 period. To dampen this problem, a beach management strategy is proposed which revolves around the restoration of corals in front of eroded shores, replacement of casuarina trees, and enforcement of regulatory laws.

Global Dialysis Perspective: Mauritius.

The Republic of Mauritius consists of several groups of small islands, spread over a large area of the south-west Indian Ocean. The largest two islands are Mauritius, 800 km east of Madagascar, and Rodrigues, a further 600 km east of Mauritius (Figure 1). Mauritius is well served by shipping routes and numerous daily international flights. Rodrigues is linked to Mauritius by several daily flights, and less frequently by cargo ships. It is geographically linked to the African continent, but most inhabitants are descended from immigrants from Asia. The main ethnicities are Indian, Creole, Chinese, and European. The population of Mauritius as of December 31,2019 was 1,265,475 people, and there is an ageing population structure compared with most African countries (1). Figure 1. The islands of Mauritius in the south-west Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, with details of the hemodialysis centers on the two larger islands. 1, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital; 2, Dr AG Jeetoo Hospital; 3, Dr Bruno Cheong Hospital; 4, Victoria Hospital; 5, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital; 6, Queen Elizabeth Hospital; 7, Long Mountain Hospital; and 8, Souillac Hospital. Mauritius, an upper-middle–income country for many years, was classified as a high income country (2) for the first time in July 2020, just as the devastating coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic struck. In 2017, the Mauritius Gini coefficient was 36.8 (3) and the health expenditure was 6% of GDP (4). The Mauritius welfare system provides a network of community and area health centers, mediclinics, district and specialized hospitals, administered from five larger regional hospitals. Although all aspects of health care are free of charge, a sizeable proportion of the population prefer to pay for the services of general practitioners, specialists, and clinics in the private sector. The burden of noncommunicable disease is considerable. Mauritius has ranked in the top …

Diaspora and development: the case of Mauritius

ABSTRACT This paper explores the different prospects offered by diasporic connections towards development in the island of Mauritius. Mauritius maintains strong diasporic connections with the homelands of the “ancestral” diasporas of its multi-ethnic population. The contribution and assistance of these countries towards the development of Mauritius at multiple levels has been significant and is still ongoing. However, the connection between the Mauritian diaspora and Mauritius as a homeland is so far less solid. The paper explores the two dimensions of diaspora in terms of their contribution to development, arguing that Mauritius needs to do more towards reaching out to its diaspora.

Oral Health Behaviour and Predictors of Oral Health Behaviour Among Patients With Diabetes in the Republic of Mauritius

ObjectivesTo investigate the oral care habits and assess the determinants of oral care behaviour among people with diabetes in the Republic of Mauritius. MethodsThe present study draws on data collected from 589 dentate persons with diabetes by means of a close-ended questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association of different demographic and clinical factors with recommended dental hygiene practices. ResultsThe majority of the participants brushed at least twice daily (84.2%), never flossed (88.6%), attended dental clinics on need only (87.1%), and did not monitor their blood glucose levels regularly (69.9%). Neither awareness about the increased risk of periodontal disease and xerostomia nor receiving advice from diabetes care providers was found to be associated with good oral hygiene or increased service utilisation. The experience of oral diseases did not encourage recommended oral health practice, with participants without experience with periodontal disease being 3 times more likely to floss (odds ratio [OR], 2.9; P = .045). Regular dental visits were strongly associated with self-reported type 1 diabetes (OR, 7.8; P = .025). Participants from urban areas were more than twice as likely to visit their dental care provider at least once annually (OR, 2.3; P = .006). Regular dental attendance (OR, 3.7; P = .011) and flossing (OR, 4.5; P = .012) were strongly associated with one another. ConclusionThere is widespread noncompliance with regular flossing and dental service utilisation. Our findings highlight the need for an emphasis on preventive care through the provision of integrated medical and dental interventions to high-risk individuals suffering from both diabetes and chronic periodontitis.

Social customer relationship management: a customer perspective

ABSTRACT While the construct customer brand engagement is gaining magnitude in hospitality studies, this study establishes positive word of mouth and brand loyalty as relevant outcomes of customer brand engagement. It proposes and empirically tests a model which is underpinned by social customer relationship management theory. By means of survey questionnaires, data was obtained from 373 customers from hotels, in the island of Mauritius. The proposed model was tested using the AMOS version 22, structural equation modelling software. Results indicate that social customer relationship management activities can trigger service process innovation which in turn leads to customer engagement with the hotel brand. However, the relationship between use of social media platforms and positive word of mouth was not supported. The current study brings interesting theoretical contributions and it further serves as a benchmark to hotel managers for the effective implementation of a SCRM strategy.