World Bank report: What is the future of Mauritius tourism?
Mauritius, the island in the Indian Ocean, is first and foremost a dream destination for many golfers. For Philippe Espitalier-Noël, who, as CEO of the ER Group, is also responsible for major golf destinations such as Beachcomber and Heritage Resorts, among others, this dream destination is extreme pressure. A recent report by the World Bank Group on climate and development on the island of Mauritius entitled CCDR has prompted him to call for significant changes in the direction of tourism on the island:
The World Bank report warns of a decline in tourism revenue in Mauritius of up to 11%. In your opinion, has this scenario already been taken into account in the current investment plans of tourism companies on the island?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: The warning should be taken seriously. An 11% decline in tourism revenue by 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario is a direct signal that the model on which Mauritian tourism has grown for decades must adapt faster.
Awareness is stronger today than it was a few years ago. The harder question is whether that awareness is shaping real investment choices. My honest assessment is that across the sector, progress is uneven. Many operators now recognise the risk. Very few have translated that recognition into capital allocation, product design and infrastructure choices.
At ER Group, we have taken a longer view. Sustainability must shape how we build, operate, and invest. Our approach is built around sustainable revenue growth, operational agility and long term destination value. The journey is demanding and requires patience and humility, but the breadth of our hospitality platform, across ER Hospitality and Beachcomber, give us flexibility across market segments and helps us build a stronger operating base for the future. But the adjustments and investments required are significant and the payback horizons are long.
How would you describe the general awareness of the potential economic risks of climate change within the tourism industry on the island, but also among important customers from abroad?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: The level of awareness has improved. We are now having conversations at the highest levels of government and the private sector that were simply not happening only a few years ago.
Within the tourism sector, the operators who have invested seriously in sustainability are also the most alive to economic risk. They see coastal erosion, water stress and energy cost trajectories as core business challenges. Others remain focused on short-term occupancy and margins. That is understandable as the solutions, although unsustainable, are not easy to implement. Take commercial aviation. It is the lifeline that connects Small Island Development States like Mauritius to the world. Decarbonising it is one of the sector’s most complex open questions, and there is no credible answer yet.
International customers are changing too, but perhaps not as fast as we sometimes assume. Many premium travellers now ask tougher questions about environmental performance, local sourcing and carbon impact. But the proportion prepared to pay a surcharge remains so thin. That is where our responsibility comes in. We need to make that link visible through facts, through action and through consistency.
To what extent is Mauritius – and the tourism industry in particular – already working on resilience, or would you say that in many cases these are more cosmetic sustainability projects?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: Both realities exist. There are genuine, substantive programmes happening, including ones we are proud to be part of. In Bel Ombre, for example, we have developed many initiatives on the educational front. We have also installed breakwaters and groynes in the lagoon, established a coral nursery with Reef Conservation, achieved UNESCO Man and the Biosphere recognition, obtained GEO sustainable certification for La Reserve Golf links. These are operational decisions backed by sustained investment with virtuous impact. They are not symbolic gestures.
At the same time, sustainability has become a popular label. In some cases, that label is ahead of the substance. The sector has to be honest about that. The CCDR’s call for $5.6 billion in additional investment over the next 25 years makes clear that the numbers are significant. Resilience starts when operations, infrastructure, and development choices are designed for the shocks we know are coming. Anything less remains incomplete.
By 2050, the coastline could recede by up to 50 meters. Many hotels live from their proximity to the beach. To what extent are there already plans for a controlled retreat inland?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: This is one of the hardest issues facing the sector, and it needs a more open conversation. The reality is that 90% of hotels in Mauritius are located on the beach. Some beaches on the island have already lost more than 10 metres over the past decade. As erosion intensifies, the pressure on beachfront assets will only increase. At Heritage Resorts, we have invested in protective measures in the Bel Ombre lagoon, supported by science and monitoring. That is necessary for an existing site, but not a response to a shoreline that has fundamentally migrated.
Managed retreat is complex. It involves not just private operators but government, communities, and the legal frameworks around coastal development. What Mauritius needs is integrated, holistic coastal management, balancing environmental protection, economic interests, and community resilience. Technological solutions have a role, but fortification alone is not the answer.
The CCDR’s recommendation to diversify tourism inland points in the right direction. The stronger the destination becomes inland, culturally and experientially, the less dependent it is on a single coastal promise. That is one reason why the Bel Ombre model matters. It builds value around nature, heritage, culture, agriculture and golf, not only around the beach.
According to the World Bank report, 61% of rainfall in Mauritius is lost before it reaches the consumer. Vacation resorts consume enormous amounts of water. Can the water problem be solved and tourism maintained without the local population suffering from water shortages?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: Yes but only if water is treated as a shared national priority and managed accordingly. With only 8% of current precipitation captured, there is meaningful space for manoeuvre. Water is now the ressource that demands the most attention and the CCDR is unambiguous on that point. Demand is rising across households, agriculture and tourism, while rainfall patterns are becoming less predictable.ve its own performance. In our Hospitality segment, we monitor consumption closely and invest practically to reduce pressure on supply. But no operator, however committed, can resolve a systemic infrastructure problem alone.
What is required is a reformed national approach: better water capture and storage, updated pricing mechanisms that create genuine conservation incentives, and serious investment in distribution infrastructure.
The 25% decline in fishing potential has an impact on local supply and the culinary offer for tourists. Should the tourism sector be much more committed to marine protected areas?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: Yes. The sector should speak more clearly and act more firmly on this issue. Marine ecosystems are not peripheral to the tourism product in Mauritius. When fish stocks decline, reefs deteriorate and lagoons weaken, the impact goes well beyond biodiversity. It affects communities, food culture, and the quality of the visitor experience.
At ER Group, we have worked with Reef Conservation since 2015, supporting coral restoration, marine science and awareness with our Marine Conservation Centre, lagoon protection through non-motorised areas and seagrass work. Those efforts reflect a simple view: if the ecosystem degrades, the destination loses substance.
On marine protected areas: the sector should be a vocal advocate, not a reluctant acceptor. Restrictions on certain activities in certain zones, done well, create the conditions for abundance. Guests who understand this are not disappointed by a no-fishing or non motorised boats zone. They are reassured that the experience they came for will still exist when they return. The tourism sector has historically been passive on this issue. That needs to change with a holistic approach that can look at the broarder medium- to long-term interests of the island.
Tourism in Mauritius thrives on the illusion of an untouched paradise. Do you risk fewer guests in the short term if you demand honesty with regard to storm risk and erosion, or is this transparency the only chance for long-term trust?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: Transparency is the only serious path. Today’s travellers, particularly at the premium end, are informed, connected. They read the IPCC reports. They notice when a beach is narrower than it looked in the brochure. What damages trust is not the truth. It is denial. When transparency is supported by visible action, it can strengthen the relationship with guests. It shows seriousness, stewardship and respect.
The harder version of this question is whether the industry can have an honest conversation about which parts of the coast may not look the same in twenty years, and what that means for adaptation measures and development decisions today. That conversation involves government, banks, insurers, communities. But it is the necessary one as the alternative is to keep marketing an asset that is quietly being depleted. I am convinced that a more virtuous approach, yet inclusive approach, can be implemented in Mauritius.
If airfares rise due to carbon taxes and local costs for climate adaptation explode, will tourism in Mauritius become an exclusive product for the top 0.1% in order to remain profitable?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: The economics do move in that direction unless we are deliberate about counteracting them. Rising long-haul airfares, climate adaptation costs, energy transition investments; these all apply upward pressure on pricing. Mauritius is already positioned at the premium end, and there is a version of the future in which the island serves fewer visitors at significantly higher price points.
A destination that has genuinely invested in its ecosystems, diversified its offer beyond sea and sand, and maintained a meaningful connection between visitor spending and community wellbeing can command and sustain a premium . The CCDR’s recommendation to move toward higher-value sustainable tourism models is coherent precisely for this reason.
Mauritius has already demonstrated what this looks like in practice. La Réserve Golf Links, recently ranked 28th in Golfweek’s prestigious international ranking, is one of the best examples we have. A course of that calibre, on a small island in the Indian Ocean, is not just a tourism asset. It is proof that Mauritius can lead by example, attract world-class talent and competition, and position itself as a regional hub for the expertise and capital flows that sustainable, high-value tourism requires.
What I would push back against is the idea that this is solely a tourism industry problem. Aviation emissions, carbon pricing, the economics of long-haul travel are global policy questions that Mauritius, contributing 0.01% of global emissions, cannot resolve on its own. What we can do is build a product so compelling, so genuinely differentiated by quality and environmental integrity, that the premium is justified.
Over the last 20 years, a large number of new hotels and resorts have been built on the island. Given the strain on resources, should many new projects be rigorously abandoned?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: The question should not be whether to stop development, but what kind of development deserves to proceed. Mauritius needs a far more demanding and refined appraisal framework. Mauritius has a Land Drainage Master Plan, a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, a commitment to 60% renewable energy by 2030. The country already has much of the policy architecture it needs. What has been missing is the willingness to say no to projects that cannot meet a clearly identifiable standard. Development that is poorly sited, resource-intensive, and indifferent to its environmental context will face devaluation risk, insurance challenges, and reputational exposure that were simply not factors a decade ago.
At ER Group, Bel Ombre has always been built on integration rather than maximisation. 2,500 hectares managed for the long term, UNESCO Man and the Biosphere recognition, marginal agricultural land repurposed for more valuable use like golf of international standard, circular economy with a farm to fork offer, clean energy production and a holistic approach to water. Hotels sit within that ecosystem, not imposed upon it. That model demands more time and more coordination. It also creates something unique that cannot be easily replicated or destroyed.
The ER Group has been working on sustainable development in tourism for years. In your experience, what is the biggest obstacle?
Philippe Espitalier-Noël: Execution. We have the frameworks, the commitments, the talent, the intentions. What has consistently been hardest is translating that ambition into consistent action across every operation, every decision, every day.
The second obstacle is systemic. The pace of public infrastructure and regulation does not match the urgency of the challenge.
The third obstacle is time horizons. The investments that will determine Mauritius’s resilience over the next 30 years compete against quarterly reporting cycles and short-term occupancy pressures.
The private sector and the public sector need to move together. Historically, the sense of urgency has not always been shared. When it is not, investment slows, decisions drift, and the cost falls on every Mauritian.
I dream of making tourism related practices in Mauritius more virtuous. What gives me confidence is that the stakes are no longer deniable and the country is by and large indicating a strong sense of readiness. Climate change, biodiversity loss, geopolital risk, rising energy costs, inequality, these are not distant threats. They are today’s operating realities and daily worries for all Mauritians.
The question is not whether we need to act. It is whether we can act with the clarity, the courage, and the pace the moment demands.
