Hospitality: Overcapacity "Unsustainable"

"It  should freeze the granting of new hotel licenses. "That's what advocates Julian Hagger,Marketing Officer of Lux * Resorts . Because, he said, " if there is not sufficient demand for tourist hotels, the industry will suffer in the medium and long term . " He added that the country is facing a situation of overcapacity " is no longer sustainable . "

" The price war associated with this overcapacity has affected the profits of operators , "says Julian Hagger. Hoteliers problems persistent overcapacity in euro zone crisis, the decline in tourist arrivals from Europe, a very low occupancy rate. Results for the hospitality industry: the hotel companies are put under administration, others are looking for buyers. For others, profits fell like Sun Resorts , which showed Rs 17 million in 2012 against Rs 208 million in 2011.

Hotel Le Flamboyant in Poste de Flacq, has, meanwhile, struggled to continue its operations. It was acquired by the Union-Beau Vallon Group, the main shareholder of the hotel Le Preskil, because of the problems caused by the fall in arrivals of Italian tourists were his main customers.

" By the end of the month, the purchase should be done. There are only a few details to work out , "says Thierry Merven, Chief Executive Officer of Union-Beau Vallon group.

Hotel Port Chambly , equipped with 42chambres was under administration because of financial difficulties. Then, following negotiations between the creditors, the directors who were directors André Bonieux and Mushtaq Oosman from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), the management was from Indigo Hotels . Difficulties Hotel Port Chambly assigned to an occupancy rate well below its forecast.

Reduced investment by 50%

Hotels Apavou are also affected. For Mario Li Kim, Senior Manager at PwC, says its fiscal debt rating of four companies of the Group Reunion, Hotel Le Morne Ltd. , SEHIC Ltd  (which markets Indian Resort & Spa ), Balaclava Beach Resort Ltd. and SMEGH Ltd. ( which markets The Plantation Resort & Spa ), in respect of its suppliers to February 28.

At this stage, the requested provider group by Mario Li Kim For invoices arrive in dribs and drabs. Therefore, it could take longer than expected to complete this year for his client, the group Apavou . Invoices obtained so far do not allow for the evaluation of debt accurately.

With the crisis and the hotel overcapacity group Bhooshan Ramloll decided to scale down the size of its hotel project in Pte-Oscorne, Grand Gaube. Investments are reduced by 50%.Instead of 200 rooms, the site will house a hotel complex consists of a hundred apartments.

In turn, groups Gamma and Ramphul (which is the Indian group Oberoi ) have towaiting their projects Albion Macondé respectively. " We decided to review the hotel package to reduce operating costs. With the crisis persists, one must be careful. There have been delays in the project, but it has not been abandoned. We will be fixed on the issue by June , "said Neemul Saddul, director of Ramphul .

The hotel sector in Rodrigues is not spared. Two hotels group Mauritours , Pte Venus and The Coconuts , were put up for sale due to financial difficulties. By Friday, the operators concerned will have to submit their bids.

Hotels are also facing declining tourist arrivals in Europe. The first quarter 2013 results in a fall of 7.5% in tourist arrivals to Europe reached 158,722, against 171,669 for the first quarter of 2012. And that, while it is true that arrivals for March, all destinations rose 9.5% to 91,759, against 83,827 in the corresponding period in 2012.