Brief on the tourist sector in Mauritius

Mauritius is geographically far from its main source markets and, as a small island with limited coastal areas and endowed resources, the country has built its image and reputation as a quality and exclusive resort destination with its crystal clear lagoon, white sandy beaches and green vegetation. Since the 1985s, this sector has become a powerful engine of growth. Today, with its 112 hotels, Mauritius, characterized with a high repeaters rate (25-30 %), hotel renovations every 6-7 years, bilingual staff and reputation of a good price/quality offering, is the major tourist destination of the Indian Ocean. Mauritius has over the previous three years, attracted over 900 000 tourists mainly from France, UK, Reunion Island, South Africa, Italy and Germany.

Around one third of hotel rooms in Mauritius comprises of internationally managed hotels (Four Seasons, Meridien Luxuary Collection, St Regis, Intercontinental, Hilton, Club Med, Sofitel, Sofitel So,Shanti, Maurice, Oberoi, Mövenpick, Maritim, One & Only Le St Geran, Valtur and soon Angsana), one third locally owned and the remaining are individual and small and medium hotels, all offering quality services. Our expertise in the hotel sector has encouraged local hotels groups to invest in hotels in the region.

Tourism is a dynamic industry and to keep up with shifting consumer expectations, new trends and technological innovations, we have re-invented ourselves and innovated to expand, enhance and improve our offering without compromising on quality. As such, Mauritius has widened its portfolio of the tourism product that today also includes golf, spa, wellness and eco tourism.

Throughout the world, tourism is perceived as being a powerful engine of growth and considered as an efficient means to alleviate poverty. In Mauritius, the tourism sector employs directly over 27 000 persons while total employment (direct, indirect and induced) stands at around 100 000 or 20% of total employment. Over 98 % of the direct employment isheld by Mauritians whereas posts in selected scarcity areas are filled by expatriates. The sector also contributes to nearly 10 % in the GDP of the sector and is a significant contributor of FDI in the country.

The Invest-Hotel Scheme

Government has recently introduced a new scheme, the Invest-Hotel Scehme (IHS) that allows property developers to sell hotel rooms, villas, suites or any other part of a hotel to individual buyers during and post construction phases. While this scheme paves the way to facilitate the overall financing of new hotel projects, it offers individual buyers all the facilities of an exquisitely-furnished new luxury resort hotel with amenities like F&B, full-service spas, health and fitness centres, resort-style pools, sophisticated business centres and maid service and the promise of rental income.

The Invest-Hotel Scheme thus provides:

1. for the development of a hotel on either freehold or leasehold land of more than 1 hectare where units, villas, suites or other parts of the hotel can be sold;
2. that the buyer of a unit enters into a lease agreement by which the property is leased back to the seller; and,
3. that the unit leased to the seller may be used and occupied by the unit owner or any person on his behalf for a total of not more than 45 days in any period of 12 months.

Additional information the the mechanism for approval under this scheme is available here.