Mauritius
Sunlife shining for more meetings in Mauritius
MAURITIUS-BASED RESORT GROUP SUNLIFE’ S STRATEGIC AIM IS TO GENERATE MORE MICE BUSINESS TO SUPPLEMENT ITS CORE LEISURE TOURISM BUSINESS AT ITS FOUR LUXURY VENUES IN MAURITIUS. SIMON GEORGE REPORTS
S unlife operates four luxury resorts in Mauritius – two on the west coast, Sugar Beach and next door to it, La Pirogue( the first to open in 1976), and two on the east coast, Long Beach and, further down, Ambre. Each provides the quintessential picture postcard image of white sandy beaches, aquamarine sea and swaying palm trees, but each differs in its own right.
Architecturally, Sugar Beach is elegant and colonial. La Pirogue with its thatched rooves offers authenticity and local charm, as does Ambre which is adults only; while Long Beach is modern and contemporary in style and by far the largest. What unites them all, though, is their collective capacity to cater for MICE demand in terms of event space – whether it is an incentive group, a corporate offsite or a wedding.
Size matters when putting on events, of course. But so, too, does flexibility, versatility and venue space variety
( both indoor and outdoor), and these characteristics enable Sunlife to mix and match when accommodating MICE requests.
That event space is not in short supply at Sunlife’ s resorts was clear from my six-day stay on the island. So, too, the exciting range of activities available for guests – whether it is ebiking, a special beach picnic, a trip to the market in Flacq, playing boules or visiting Long Beach’ s biodiversity trail – which the group actively promotes under its Come Alive banner. Sunlife is also serious about sustainability at its four resorts, as was made clear by the group’ s head of sustainability Ali Abdool.
Sugar Beach The first stop on my itinerary was the 5-star Sugar Beach situated at Flic-en-Flac, about an hour’ s drive from the airport. In terms of indoor event space, the 238-bed hotel offers the Plantation conference room, which
Right: Conference catch: big game fishing can be on the Mauritius incentives agenda
Left: Sunlife putting plenty of colour into its MiCE menu in Mauritius
can accommodate up to 350 guests, the Demerara conference room( 110 guests) and the more intimate Boardroom( up to 30 guests). L’ Atelier de Sens, which is used as a workshop so guests can try their hand at making their own scent or jewellery, can also be converted for an event. In terms of outdoor MICE capacity, the number ramps up fast( up to 1,000 people). During my stay, the events team was putting the finishing touches to a marquee by the beach for a gala dinner in the evening for a UK incentive group.
I met Azhar Nunhukh, Sunlife’ s head of revenue management, and Karen Joorun, sales executive, leisure and weddings at the resort who explained that each resort is allowed to be run autonomously of the group.
Currently MICE business makes up just under 20 % of Sunlife’ s annual group revenue, but the aim is for Sugar Beach to tap further into the lucrative MICE business and to expand that revenue share.
Sunlife’ s resorts are running at over 80 % occupancy over the year, the team reports. Developing MICE business during quieter periods for the resorts, namely May, June, September and between January and Easter, therefore offers a key opportunity.
18 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 135