Moratorium update on large hotel projects in Seychelles

A moratorium on large hotel projects in Seychelles, specifically on Mahe and the inner islands, was announced by former President James Michel in his address on the occasion of Seychelles’ National Day which falls on June 29, 2015.

The Seychelles Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine has published a list of hotels which was approved before the moratorium on new large hotels in the country came into force. Members of the local media were presented with the list yesterday afternoon during a press conference held at the ministry’s headquarters, Espace building.

Speaking to members of the press was the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, and present were the Principal Secretary for Tourism, Anne Lafortune, and the Director of Standards and Regulations, Sinha Levkovic.

Projects for which approval had already been granted, or for which a commitment had been made by the government, were exempted. The moratorium is set to be enforced until the year 2020.

Minister Loustau-Lalanne said a number of governmental bodies were involved in the process of having these projects approved and thanked the Seychelles Investment Board, Seychelles Planning Authority, and the Secretariat of the Cabinet as well as the tourism ministry.

There are 18 large hotels projects on that list, which means those tourism establishments which are made up of 25 rooms or more. Twelve out of the 18 projects are on Mahe, 2 are on Praslin, and 4 others are on the outer islands, namely Ile Platte, Silhouette, Ile Longue, and Sainte Anne.

Speaking on the project on Ile Platte, Minister Loustau-Lalanne said construction started but has not been completed yet. He added that construction will restart, and this is why the project is on this list.

On the proposed capacity of these hotel projects, Minister Loustau-Lalanne said there are those which have received definitive approval, but there are a few that are still in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) stage.

He added that there are projects which have been approved since 2006, but since Seychelles went through the economic reforms in 2008, investors did not see it opportune to kick-start these projects.