Tourism Development and Physical Planning

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Tourism Development and Physical Planning
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Introduction

• Tourism sector and physical planning are closely
  interrelated
• First class hotels and our natural assets have
  contributed to the success of the Tourism
  Industry in Mauritius
• Need to plan our scarce and limited resources

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Structure of the Presentation

• Characteristics of Tourism development in
  Mauritius from a planning point of view
• The National Development Strategy with respect to
  the 3 traditional Tourism Zones
• Rethinking of the planning approach towards
  tourism development
• A new planning framework being put in place to
  attract high quality development

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Characteristics of Tourism Development in
Mauritius

• High quality resort hotels in coastal areas. Low
  use and low density development
• Marketing based on sand, sun and sea
• Tourism development is concentrated in 3 main
  zones. Intense pressure for development in these
  zones
• Sensitive sites sandy beaches, dune areas,
  estuaries, etc are preferred sites for tourism
  development
• Wetlands are being drained for tourism
  development

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• Our coastline is being altered to make way for
  artificial beaches and marinas
• Hotels are being built too close to the High
  Water Mark
• Severe erosion problems have occurred along the
  coast
• Lack of infrastructure provision in many coastal
  areas
• Public beaches are under pressure unbuilt areas
  for development
• New Tourism areas in the south are emerging
• Our coastline is a finite resource and a
  rethinking of the whole planning process is
  required

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The Three Traditional Tourism Zones

• Clustering of the major development in or around
  the existing tourism zone
• Development focus for each zone was identified as
  follows-
• THE NORTHERN TOURISM ZONE
• THE EASTERN TOURISM ZONE
• THE SOUTH WEST TOURISM ZONE

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The Northern Tourism Zone

• Maintain and increase the range of accommodation
  available
• Upgrading quality to be encouraged in the
  informal sector
• Improvement of public facilities at Grand Baie
• Improvement to environment quality green spaces
  and traffic calming measures

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The Eastern Tourism Zone

• Maintain luxury and high quality hotel
  development
• Improve public beach facilities and access to the
  sea
• better controlled water based activities

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The South West Tourism Zone

• Maintain luxury and high quality development
• Upgrade the informal sector and upgrade existing
  accommodations
• Improve public beach facilities and access to the
  sea

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Rethinking of the Planning Process

• Need for a new approach towards Tourism planning
• A shift towards new concepts and new tourism
  products
• Need for planned areas, with emphasis on the
  provision of infrastructure and leisure
  activities
• The IRS Scheme Contain a mixture of uses
  residential, hotel, commercial, leisure, golf
  over large extent of land
• Eco-Tourism Project to boost up local economies
  and the need to protect the environment Towards
  Inland Tourism

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The Bel Ombre Masterplan
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• The Bel Ombre Masterplan A land exchange
  mechanism to provide for more hotel sites,
  propose services on the hinterland and a public
  open space Win-Win Situation
• Towards Action Area Plans To assist in the
  overall planning, management, provision of
  infrastructure, open spaces for specific areas
  and to ensure its implementation

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The New Planning Framework

• Coming into force of the NDS , the Planning and
  Development Act and the New Outline Schemes for
  Rural Areas to rethink the planning process
• Moved from rigid Outline Schemes to a
  development friendly approach
• No rezoning required
• PDA will encourage formulation of Action Area
  Plans
• Old guidelines used to be prescriptive and rigid
• The New Planning Policy Guidance is more flexible
  and will lay emphasis on performance criteria
• A design-led approach based on quality and
  integrated development
• To ensure involvement at all levels from all
  stakeholders

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The Way Forward

• Tourism strategy and planning will need to
  balance competing demands for tourism growth and
  environmental protection to ensure the quality of
  the tourism product
• Sustainable development will still be a priority
• Need to attract quality development
• Need to invest heavily in infrastructure
  provision

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Thank You