The Tourism Ministry of the Seychelles is to reallocate hotels – about 800 old rooms and eight hotel developments that have stalled – to new developers, to increase the amount of rooms in the Seychelles.
Of the 18 hotel development projects that have been approved, eight have been dormant, some for more than 10 years. In those cases, the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, said “they will be given a year to decide whether they want to go ahead or stop the projects altogether”. He added: “And in case they do not want to go ahead with the projects, the number of rooms will be taken back and put in a pool and reallocated to both local and foreign investors who have the money and are ready to move.”
The 18 hotels are not affected by the recent moratorium on the development of large hotels (25 rooms or more) that was announced by the president earlier this year. Loustau-Lalanne said the decision did not go against the moratorium, but sought to ensure there were enough rooms to cater for the growth in tourist numbers.
Developers who wish to build large hotels, or existing hotels that wish to expand or upgrade their offerings, can submit their proposals for the 800 rooms that are to be reallocated. The reallocations will be done on a case-by-case basis, and the projects will still be subject to environmental impact assessments and approval from the relevant regulatory bodies, including the planning authority.
There are currently 5 300 rooms in the Seychelles, spread across 500 hotels on the three main islands- Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.
The 18 approved hotel developments are set to increase the number of rooms by 3 000.
“Tourism remains the main contributor to the economy of Seychelles, and it is therefore important to constantly monitor and adjust whenever necessary, taking the necessary action required to accommodate the desired growth in tourism arrivals to the archipelago,” said David Germain, Regional Director – Africa and the Americas, of Seychelles Tourism Board.
