Island looks east to build up new markets

Chinese arrivals are growing steadily

Sun, peace, beautiful resorts and excellent hospitality - all the ingredients of a relaxing holiday are a standard part of the Mauritius experience. The island, a 12-hour direct flight from Beijing and 11 hours 20 minutes from Shanghai, outperforms competitors with its natural beauty and exquisite waters.

Although the number of visitors from the island's traditional market, Europe, have fallen in the aftermath of the global crisis, the number of Chinese tourists to this high-end destination has almost doubled every year in recent years, reaching 20,885 visitors in 2012.

In July this year, a total of 4,311 Chinese inbound tourists visited Mauritius, an increase of 138.4 percent compared to the same month last year, propelling the visitors' total figures for January-July 2013 by 87.1 percent.

Grand Baie, in the north of Mauritius, is the Mauritian center for sailing activities. Provided to China Daily

Total tourism arrivals are expected to reach 97,000 this year, based on first-quarter trends, and Minister of Tourism and Leisure Michal Yeung Sik Yuen believes growth will be around 4 percent, a healthy increase from last year's 0.1 percent figure.

"We live in challenging times," he says, "but when you look at the figures, more than 63 percent of our tourism came from Europe before. We therefore have begun to diversify. As well as consolidating the European market, we have started to reach out to the regional markets, such as Reunion Island, South Africa and Australia.

"We are also working hard on emerging markets, like China, India and Russia. We have some people come here from Brazil but the distance remains a problem. We are also in touch with the Commonwealth of Independent States members and Gulf Cooperation Council countries: last year we were in Dubai for the Arabian Travel Market show. Every year, we search for new markets."

As A. Karl Mootoosamy, director of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, explained, players and professionals of the Mauritius Tourism Industry have spared no effort to expand this promising and emerging market. The national airline, Air Mauritius, currently serves two weekly and one weekly direct flight to the mega cities of Shanghai and Beijing respectively.

In addition, passengers can connect via various hubs such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Dubai.

"The attractiveness of Mauritius for Chinese tourists mainly lies in the amazing natural beauty of sun-kissed sandy beaches, exceptional purity of the air, and the wide array of products offered by no other single island destination," Mootoosamy said. "These include luxury hotels, resorts and services, a multiethnic population blended as a microcosm of the world's greatest cultures (including Chinese descendants), a most hospitable and friendly population, romantic and unforgettable wedding and honeymoon packages, exciting water sports, state-of-the-art designer golf courses, and spa and wellness amongst many other things.

A regional success story

While some hotels are struggling with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization margins, Sun Resorts Limited - or SRL, part of the leading industrial and investment CIEL Group, has been investing a lot in the new markets as well.

SRL is a major Mauritian hotel group that currently owns and manages stunning resorts in Mauritius and the Maldives.

According to its Annual Report for 2012, the group continued with its strategy of enhancing and expanding its product portfolio with the launch of the four star 297-key resort, Ambre on the east coast of the island.

"This additional investment showed our faith in the local tourism sector despite the troubling times we are all experiencing but we are confident that this new resort will add value to our group in the medium to long term span," the report said.

"Additionally, with the first full year of Long Beach, the group increased its room nights available in Mauritius by 23 percent in 2012, thus consolidating its position as the second largest hotel operator on the island with a total of 1,261 rooms - and 1,361 rooms with the Republic of Maldives.

"Despite the deterioration of the economic conditions in our main European markets, as evidenced by the drop in tourist arrivals out of Europe to Mauritius and the Maldives by 8 percent and 3.7 percent respectively, SRL managed to increase its market share by 19 percent, with a 23 percent growth in room nights sold for the year. The group therefore managed to increase its room occupancy over 2011 to 61 percent, when the national average industry occupancy retreated by 3 percentage points."

The company's flagship property, Le Touessrok, is a five star luxury resort and a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. It was successfully relaunched in 2002 as the ultimate "tropical chic" contemporary resort", said Tommy Wong, chief finance officer of Sun Resorts.

Le Touessrok is the perfect holiday setting for couples and families, with a fabulous range of facilities, including an extensive choice of water sports and land-based activities, five restaurants, a renowned Givenchy Spa and personal butler service.

The beautiful resort also features three luxury waterfront villas, which have redefined the benchmark for luxury villas in Mauritius. Open since May 2005, Le Touessrok Villas offer ultra-exclusive and spacious accommodation, using the latest technology to meet the high expectations of the most discerning guests to Mauritius. Unsurprisingly, it has just received the Daily Telegraph's Ultratravel Magazine's "Best Hotel in Africa and the Indian Ocean" award.

SRL was incorporated in February 1983 and has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius since January 1993. It is 100 percent Mauritian-owned and has around 13,000 shareholders.

"The hotel industry has been at crossroads in the past few years, because we have been highly dependent on Europe. Because of our history, our main market as always had been Europe and the UK. We have been capitalizing on that," Wong said.

"We have been looking timidly at other markets, especially those in Asia and the Middle East, but since the crisis in Europe, which started three years ago, we had to come up with a clear strategy of how to capitalize on and obtain a bigger share of the Chinese and Asian markets.

"For us as a hotel group, and for the Mauritian government as well, it was clear that we wanted to grow the Chinese market and exploit its huge potential.

"We have been in the Maldives for the past seven years, and have seen the Chinese market grow from zero to become the leading market. With 250,000 arrivals a year, it is now our premier market and growing exponentially.

"If you look at the Maldives as a destination, they have been very lucky. They had a good strategy of basically capitalizing on new emerging markets, especially China, and very successful in mitigating the loss of the European market, which Mauritius hasn't been able to do until now."

Wong, a chartered accountant who has been in the tourism industry for 20 years, is very clear what sets SRL apart, said:

"We were one of the pioneers on the island, and our model has always been the quality of our customer service. We make our clients very happy.

"Because we were one of the first resorts on the island, we were able to pick prime locations. Newer hotels don't have that privilege anymore as the island is limited in terms of beachfront areas. We have invested a lot in our image and in the quality of all our properties. Mauritius is a long-stay island, an exclusive place. We have shopping, sightseeing and casinos, so there is more to do than just go to the beach.

"Our feedback tells us that people like high-end quality destinations and resorts. So the challenge for the next two years will be to ensure people hear about us. We want to remain in the Indian Ocean; we have a presence in Maldives and we are also looking at Seychelles. When the time is right, we will look at Africa: Tanzania or Mozambique for example."

Wong is keen to get Chinese investors on board for its expansion plans.

"I think the message is clear; since 1972, we have been a very good partner to China. They invested in Mauritius, and we have been working with the biggest business partners. We are basically looking to expand our relationship in getting more Chinese to Mauritius as a first step. And then, also to get strong partners in terms of cooperation.

"As a partner in terms of support, finance, in terms of going to Africa, and because of our agreements and expertise, China is ideal. We still have developments to look at, in real estate and hotels. A partnership would basically accelerate the growth of Chinese investment into our company."

Sun Resorts also has the cushion of its parent company: the Mauritius-based CIEL. Headed by Chairman Arnaud Dalais and with a portfolio of investments of 126 million euros ($167 million), CIEL Investment is one of the leading Mauritian investment companies, with focused interests in various operating sectors of the Mauritian economy such as tourism, leisure, financial services, investment, property, healthcare and life sciences.

Managed as a long-term investment fund, it has achieved rapid growth primarily through Mauritius equity and equity-related investments and reached an internal rate of return of over 40 perecent in US dollar terms over the past 20 years, through an active investment management approach.

InFocus provided the story

(China Daily 09/12/2013 page19)