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Trente projets d’hôtel soumis à l’Etat
Quatre nouveaux établissements ouvriront leurs portes en 2007, 26 autres avant 2010. Leur coût : 25,5 mds.

Les arrivées et recettes touristiques sont en pleine croissance. Sans compter que l’objectif du gouvernement est d’atteindre les 2 millions de touristes d’ici 2015. Le secteur privé est ainsi prêt à injecter des fonds dans le secteur. Pas moins de trente projets d’hôtel sont en cours de concrétisation. Valeur totale des investissements : Rs 25,5 mds.

Telles sont les informations qui figurent dans une réponse parlementaire écrite remise par le ministre du Tourisme, Xavier-Luc Duval, mercredi. Plusieurs projets ont déjà été soumis aux autorités et sont dans l’attente d’un feu vert. En 2007, seuls quatre nouveaux établissements devraient voir le jour. Les autres devraient être opérationnels avant 2010.

Deux hôtels se situent à Balaclava, dans le Nord. Sagar Hotels and Resorts (avec la collaboration de l’hôtel Le Meridien) et le Balaclava Resort and Spa au coût de Rs 2,7 mds devraient être opérationnels d’ici décembre.

Le second Club Méditerranée, à Albion, est en rodage et n’a pas encore été officiellement inauguré. Il a coûté un peu plus de Rs 2 mds. Le quatrième établissement est à Bel-Ombre et se nomme Tamassa. Son promoteur, Naïade Resort, y a injecté environ Rs 800 m.

Paradoxalement, alors que c’est surtout le Nord qui est considéré comme la région la plus convoitée, la réalité est autre : c’est le Sud qui intéresse. Onze projets ont été soumis pour cette région, pour un minimum de Rs 7,5 mds.

Les deux projets d’Integrated Resorts Scheme, celui de Bel-Ombre et de St.-Félix, compteront, à eux seuls, sept hôtels à terme. Quatre pour le premier et trois pour le second. Le Spa & Golf Resort de l’île aux Bénitiers coûtera Rs 2,2 mds.

Sakoa Ltd propose pour sa part de construire un kite surf village de 50 chambres au coût de Rs 50 m à La Prairie, endroit où Beachcomber proposait de construire un hôtel il y a quelques années. Les deux autres projets se situent à Pointe-Jérôme (Ex Tha-lassa) et Riambel (Mirabel Beach Resort). Huit promoteurs veulent investir sur la côte ouest du pays. La Gaulette (Corniche Bay), Flic-en-Flac (Osprey Co.) et Albion (Club Méditerranée) compteront chacun un établissement.

Le projet de tourisme intégré des Salines à Rivière-Noire compte, lui, cinq hôtels. L’investissement proposé est de Rs 5,3 mds au total pour 664 chambres.

Au nord, sept sites sont convoités par les hôteliers. Outre deux projets à Balaclava, il y a Mon Choisy IRS Hotel & Golf Hotel, Saint Antoine IRS Resort, Pointe Osborne Hotel (Grand-Gaube), Anahita Four Seasons (Beau-Champ) et Les Creolias (Calodyne).

La région est est touchée par deux projets. En tête de liste, le Coral Cove Resort à Belle-Mare pour Rs 2,6 mds. C’est d’ailleurs le projet hôtelier le plus cher qui a été soumis au gouvernement. Pourtant, les investisseurs ne comptent construire que 130 chambres, soit un peu moins que la moyenne. Le second est celui de la Société Vacance Plus à Palmar pour Rs 900 millions.

Les promoteurs prévoient que le nombre de chambres disponibles actuellement n’est pas suffisant pour répondre à la demande touristique. Alors qu’ils tablent sur une croissance à deux chiffres pour le tourisme. Ces projets d’hôtel viendront ainsi ajouter quelque 4 587 chambres ou villas au parc hôtelier.

Rien que pour cette année, le Bureau central des statistiques prévoit des recettes touristiques de Rs 36, 4 milliards, soit une hausse de 14,1 % par rapport à l’année dernière. Le nombre d’arrivées devrait atteindre 875 000, soit une hausse de 11 %.

Par Patrick HILBERT

Mauritius May Sell Off Stakes in Phone, Insurance Companies

By Mike Cohen and Villen Anganan

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Mauritius may sell stakes in several state-owned companies, including Mauritius Telecom and the State Insurance Company Ltd., and use the proceeds to retire debt or build new infrastructure, Finance Minister Rama Sithanen said.

``As part of its policy to develop the equity market and to widen and democratize share ownership, government will encourage Mauritius Telecom and Sicom Ltd. to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius,'' Sithanen said in his June 15 budget speech, which was published on his ministry's Internet site. ``In the same vein, government will sell some of its shares in other state-owned companies.''

The Indian Ocean island's government has been trying to reposition the economy and make it more competitive after changes to global trading terms and rules slashed earnings from sugar and textiles, its main exports. The economic growth rate for the fiscal year that ends June 30 will probably rise to almost 5.5 percent, from almost 5 percent in the prior 12 months.

``The signs of economic growth are vivid,'' Sithanen said. ``Growth is on a rising path. Foreign direct investment is flowing in at an unprecedented rapid pace. The textile industry is no longer in recession. Construction and tourism are booming.''

Last year, Mauritius attracted about 7.2 billion rupees ($231 million) in foreign direct investment, more than the cumulative total for the prior four years. This year the government anticipates attracting investment worth 10 billion rupees.

Shrinking Deficit

Sithanen projected a fiscal deficit of 3.8 percent from fiscal 2008, down from 4.3 percent the year before. Higher oil prices and the depreciation of the rupee are expected to push the average inflation rate to 10.7 percent in the year than ends June 30, 2007, from 5.1 percent the year before, he said.

The government expects inflation to fall in fiscal 2008 and will set up a new competition regulator this year to encourage competition and bring down prices. It also plans to review its labor laws with a view to reducing input costs.

The fiscal 2008 budget allocates 7.5 billion rupees toward building new infrastructure, a fifth more than the previous year. A new airport terminal will be constructed at a cost of 4 billion rupees, while 752 million rupees will be spent on road projects, 201 million rupees on electricity projects and 208 million rupees on improving the water supply.

Mauritius, a nation the size of Rhode Island, is located about 500 miles off the east coast of Madagascar.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 17, 2007 10:03 EDT
Bloomberg

Mauritius container terminal for sale

Mauritius has decided to put its state-owned container terminal operator up for sale to foreign bidders in an effort to upgrade the port following growth in throughput.

Mauritius is looking at expanding its container terminal facilities, apart from developing an oil jetty, a seafood hub and jetty for cruise liners.

The government has decided to privatise the container terminal operator Cargo Handling Corp Ltd (CHCL), which is 53 percent owned by the State Investment Corp (SIC), 40 percent by the MPA and the remaining seven percent by other government units.

"Our aim is to separate the port operator from the regulator," said an official.
Following recent dredging of the channel from 13.5m to 14.5m, the container terminal can now accommodate two fourth generation vessels simultaneously. The MPA will soon embark on a project to extend the berth by some 150m, bringing total quay length to 710m, which will allow two mother vessels and one feeder vessel to be serviced simultaneously.

The official said, the economy has been picking up since and shipping companies such as the Mediterranean Shipping Corporation, Maersk, Mitsui OSK and P&O, have signed agreements with Mauritius for using its port as a transhipment centre. The MPA's objective for 2007-09 is to transform Port Louis Harbour into a dynamic maritime business centre with logistics facilities.

Recently, Mauritius signed an agreement with India to carry out a hydrographic survey. MPA's deputy director general Shekur Suntah said a team of officials from the Indian Hydrographic Organisation in Dehradun would be visiting the port soon.

"The port is the lifeline of the island nation's economy and the government was aiming to make it a major transhipment point between Africa and Asia. In line with the globalisation process, the port will have to redefine its functional role in the value chain with a view to enhancing customer value besides ensuring its growth," said Suntah.

A tariff study has been completed for MPA and CHCL to ensure port charges remain competitive within the region, said Chady.

The dedicated oil jetty at Mer Rouge, currently being constructed by Mumbai-based Afcons Infrastructure, is expected to enhance POL (petroleum, oils and lubes) capacity to four million tonnes from the current one million tonnes. Indian Oil Corp, which has been operating in the country for three years, is increasing its capacity with a half a billion US dollar investment. It plans to add an additional storage facility of 4,000 tonnes and has also expressed an interest in starting bunker operations.

During 2007, MPA will undertake the construction of a cruise jetty at Les Salines, which will be completed by 2007-end and facilitate the disembarkation of passengers near the Caudan Waterfront, which has easy access to the city centre.

Mauritius March y/y inflation climbs to 9.7 pct

Wed 18 Apr 2007, 7:18 GMT

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritian year-on-year inflation rose to 9.7 percent in March from 8.9 percent in December, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Wednesday.

For the first quarter of this year, the consumer price index rose 1.8 percent following price increases of fresh vegetables, chicken, meat, powdered milk, oil and some other food products as well as higher tuition fees, the report said.

"The food items have increased by nearly six percent in the first quarter," a CSO official said by telephone, noting that vegetable prices were pushed up by a cyclone in February.

These increases were partly offset by the downward revision of petrol and diesel prices from Jan 4, the report said.

Inflation on the Indian Ocean island of 1.3 million people has been hit by higher world oil prices, but jumped when a June budget removed subsidies on basic items like rice and flour.

"The rate of inflation for the 12 months ending March 2007 works out to 9.7 percent compared to 4.9 percent for the same period ending March 2006," the quarterly CSO report said.

Mauritius is opening and diversifying its economy as trade preferences on its sugar and textile industries come to an end

Copyright 2007 Reuters

Mauritius island provides wildlife sanctuary

ILE AUX AIGRETTES, Mauritius (Reuters) -- Giant tortoises doze in the shade as rare lizards slip under bushes and endangered birds chatter in the sunlit trees overhead.

On a small wooded island off southern Mauritius, environmentalists are trying to turn back time to an era before humans ever set foot on the volcanic Indian Ocean archipelago.

"We want to turn the clock back 400 years," says Ashok Khadun, a conservation expert with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), a local non-governmental organization.

Sadly, they are too late to help the Mauritius giant skink -- a type of large gray lizard -- its broad-billed parrot, scops owl or lesser flying fox, and many other species now extinct.

Separate from the continents since it emerged from the seas some eight million years ago, the island developed hundreds of unique species of flora and fauna that evolved in isolation.

But the arrival of Europeans led by the Portuguese in the 16th century triggered an ecological disaster with the slashing of forest habitats and the introduction of predators like rats.

By far the most famous victim was the flightless dodo bird, which is believed to have died out in the late 1600s.

Seeing results

About 98 percent of the island's indigenous forest has been cut down, most of it to grow fields of sugar cane.

But on Ile Aux Aigrettes, in sight of the mainland, experts are now trying to recreate the environment of those bygone days and provide a haven for species in danger today.

The archipelago once had two types of giant tortoises, but the gentle beasts -- each weighing on average more than 200 kg (440 lb) -- on Ile Aux Aigrettes today were imported from the Seychelles.

Conservationists have removed rats, cats, goats and the hedgehog-like tenrecs from the small island. And the importance of tight "biosecurity" means boats or equipment coming to the island and its straw-roofed buildings are checked for stowaways.

Once a rat made it across from the mainland and set up home in a thatched roof, workers said. It took days to catch.

After the flurry of excitement, the conservationists went back to their duties of monitoring the birds, animals and reptiles that share the roughly one kilometer-wide island and its ebony forests

Their findings have been encouraging.

Safe from predators, the numbers of two critically endangered species -- the small orange-headed Mauritius fody bird and the large pink pigeon -- have shot up to a few hundred each from just a handful in recent years.

"It's addictive," says Ruth Cole, a British ornithologist who has lived on the Ile for four years. "You can see results."

Boosting tourism

Now the bird teams have added the Mauritius olive white-eye to their list, hoping to add to the string of successes.

The island nation has a strong track record: both the Echo Parakeet and Mauritius Kestrel were also down to just a handful of birds before being rescued from the jaws of extinction.

The Mauritius Kestrel was the world's rarest bird: with just four examples known to exist in 1974. Now there are about 1,000.

But the Ile Aux Aigrettes project isn't just about birds.

Some 260 skinks -- a forearm-length gray-brown lizard -- have been taken from another island where they are plentiful and returned to Aigrettes, where they lived hundreds of years ago.

Some 10,000 visitors are expected on the Ile this year, up from 8,300 in 2006, including many local schoolchildren.

The priority for the future, the conservationists say, is to raise awareness across Mauritius -- particularly among hotel developers keen to cash in on government plans to boost tourism.

"Mauritius is very green but the green should not be mistaken for native vegetation existing before," the MWF's Khadun said, referring to the sugar cane plantations.

Environmentalists say many landowners have shown enthusiasm for sustainable development programs, and activists also waged a successful campaign in 2005 to stop the construction of a major road through the mainland's wildlife-rich Ferney Valley.

"We are winning, but the progress is very, very slow," the Khadun said.

14. April 2007

Mauritius knocks on DMRC door for help Seeks technical expertise to start underground rail system; provides Delhi Metro with its plans Anubhuti Vishnoi

New Delhi, April 10: Within days of Indonesia sealing a deal with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for operational consultancy for a new Jakarta metro, another South Asian neighbour has come knocking at the doors of DMRC MD E Sreedharan.

Mauritius has approached DMRC for assistance in its maiden metro project to connect the cities of Curepipe and Port Louis.

The request came from Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius Dr Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun and High Commissioner M Choonee, who called on Sreedharan and DMRC’s board of directors last Saturday.

Mauritius has been planning to introduce the Light Rail Train Systems (LRTS) and has, besides the metro, other options like the monorail and Guided Rubber Rail in mind.

While their earlier studies assessed the need for a mass rapid transit system (MRTS) in the island nation, they seem to have zeroed in on DMRC for the “right and expert advice”.

“Mauritius officials have asked us to examine the feasibility of their metro project. They conveyed their needs and will soon be sending related papers and studies to Sreedharan’s office for his analysis,” said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson, DMRC.

Mauritius is examining a 25 km-long metro corridor between Curepipe and Port Louis- its capital. Their project estimates a 32-minute journey across 13 stations. Mauritius has also set its eyes on 14-16 air-conditioned trains running at speeds of 55-75 km per hour with a train frequency of 5 minutes.

The officials have outlined a 20-second stoppage time at each station with an estimated ferrying of 93,000 passengers per day, said Dayal. DMRC with its experience of transporting 90,000 passengers per hour across a 65.1 km long network appears to be just the right bet for them.

The delegates from Mauritius also travelled on the metro along CS-Rajiv Chowk-RK Ashram stretch to see both the elevated and underground metro sections.

From TimesOnline.co.uk
April 10, 2007

Sun City founder loses 30-year-old Mauritius contract

Sol Kerzner loses four out of five exclusive hotels to shareholders including the Mauritian Government

Adam Fresco

Sol Kerzner, the billionaire owner of the One and Only holiday brand, has had the jewel in the crown of his hotel portfolio wrested away from him on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Since 1975 Mr Kerzner, the founder of Sun City in South Africa, and in the UK one of the bidders to run Manchester's super casino, has had an important presence on the island and launched his upmarket brand O&O there at Le Touessrok five years ago.

But last week, after eight months of negotiations, he lost the management contract that Kerzner International has had for more than 30 years at five hotels on the island.

Mr Kerzner, who is still reeling from the loss of his son, Butch, who was chief executive of Kerzner International, in a helicopter accident, has been left with only the five-star Le Saint Géran, a haven for the rich and famous.

The other five-star hotel he could call his own, Le Touessrok, and three others, Le Coco Beach, La Pirogue and Sugar Beach Resort, have all been taken over by Sun Resorts Limited (SRL), made up of Mauritian shareholders, including the Government.

Times Online understands that Mr Kerzner, who had a 20.5 per cent stake in SRL, wanted to concentrate on building up the two five-star hotels and maybe add to his O&O group but SRL wanted the other four-star hotels to be focused on as well.

Although both parties say that the deal, signed over the Bank Holiday, was amicable and in everyone’s interest, it is believed that the fiercest negotiations concerned Le Touessrok, which Mr Kerzner wanted but SRL did not want to give up.

In the end the hotel stayed with the Mauritians and will become their flagship property on the island.

But the two sides did work out a deal over the nine-hole golf course that adjoins Saint Géran — they are going to build some luxury villas there together.

When they are sold the money will be added to the $60 million that SRL has got from the deal so they can upgrade some of their hotels.

They are looking at completely rebuilding Coco Beach and then, with what they estimate will be a $200 million war chest, look at acquiring other properties in the region.

Arnaud Martin, the chief marketing officer for SRL, who worked at O&O, told Times Online that this would be the first time the company had owned and managed a hotel but that they were more than up to the task.

“We have a lot of assets in Mauritius and believe there is a lot of potential there," he said. "Tourism is growing and the Government is taking bold decisions in terms of air access and, by managing the property ourselves, we can reap a higher benefit.

“The two companies had different objectives and therefore there was a need to refocus to maximise return.

“It was quite obvious that one of the objectives of Kerzner International was to carry on developing the five-star deluxe hotels, to develop One and Only, while on the island we have properties in very good locations, which, certainly in the long run, needs to be focused on more.

“We parted amicably and there was a mutual respect between both sides and we are certainly happy with what we have got.”

Would they have liked to take Saint Géran with them from the deal?

“Of course we would have liked to take everything, but you can’t have everything in life," Mr Martin said. "We would have liked to keep everything because it is important to have inventory on all different levels of the market.”

As part of the deal SRL has sold out of O&O International Management Ltd, including its investment in other O&O hotels.

So far the shareholders are happy, as the price has risen, and Mr Martin said that they would not be going mad with their money.

“We will consolidate what we have and then look at other developments," he said. "Over the next five years will have $200 million. The company is very profitable.”

A statement issued by Kerzner International confirmed the deal and said: “Both Kerzner and SRL are confident that these new arrangements will permit them to focus on their core objectives, enable them to continue to deliver exceptional service and amenities to their guests, and create value to their travel partners and shareholders."