The number of tourists visiting Mauritius rose 10 percent in the first half of 2016 compared with the same period last year, with a sharp rise in arrivals from Germany.

Arrivals in the first six months of 2016 increased to 586,464 from 534,182 a year ago, Statistics Mauritius said.

The number of tourists visiting from Europe, which accounts for two-thirds of visitors to Mauritius, rose by 16 percent to 335,738, with German arrivals up 37 percent to 46,854 visitors.

Last month the statistics agency said it expected arrivals for the full year to rise to 1,240,000 from 1,151,723 in 2015.

Tourism is an important economic driver and a key source of hard currency for the Indian Ocean island.