For several years now, major developments have been underway in the south-east of the island. Compagnie de Beau Vallon Ltée, one of the region’s major economic players, has embarked on a major real estate project. Pointe d’Esny Le Village is a residential complex developed under the Property Development Scheme (PDS), with a social dimension for the benefit of the neighboring Mauritian community. The project is subject to strict environmental controls, with an emphasis on ecological aspects.
Group Chief Executive Officer Thierry Merven announces the creation of a leisure division by Compagnie de Beau Vallon Ltée. The Beau Vallon MTB Challenge, a mountain bike race whose fifth edition was organized in three stages over the weekend of May 13-14, is part of this strategy to develop a leisure center. This will focus on land and sea-based ecotourism.
“We believe that a leisure center is a perfect complement to the hotel business – another of our core activities through Southern Cross Hotels, which manages Le Preskil, Astroea Beach and Solana Beach – and to real estate. We have an estate that has been preserved, with splendid landscapes and beautiful vegetation, including trees over a hundred years old. There are rivers and mountains too. It all adds up to an exceptional whole,” confides Thierry Merven.
Thierry Merven (Group Chief Executive Officer of CBVL): “The estate will open up gradually. We want to welcome Mauritians and tourists looking for a change of scenery.
The Compagnie de Beau Vallon Ltée has a playground that has everything it needs to develop non-motorized leisure activities.
Thierry Merven recalls that the Pointe-d’Esny lagoon has already hosted kitesurfing competitions and a stage of the Hydrofoil Pro Tour. ” We have also hosted a stage of the Tour de Maurice cycliste and other road races, including the Circuit de Riche-en-Eau,” he adds.
The CBVL wants to go one step further by setting up a trail, a discipline that has become very popular on the island. But also kayak river descents. “The estate will open up little by little. We want to welcome Mauritians and tourists looking for a change of scenery. “says our contact.
The group also owns two hunting reserves, at Chemin Français and Rivière-des-Créoles. This activity has a large following on the island. The CBVL also plans to create an 18-hole golf course, in association with its real estate projects. A total surface area of 2,000 hectares is involved in all these projects.
Social cohesion
And let’s not forget the region’s historic side. “Mahébourg and the region have kept their character. We want to develop while preserving the cradle of the island. Heritage is also very important to us. We have the Château de Richeen-Eau, which dates back over a hundred years, and its formal garden. This is another aspect that we want to highlight,” points out Thierry Merven. “We’re concerned with preservation, it’s part of our DNA, but that doesn’t mean we’re backward-looking.” “People who come here are amazed. It’s a discovery for them,” says the Group CEO with pride.
There is also a social component to this development. The Compagnie de Beau Vallon Ltée will create jobs, which will benefit young people in the region. “We are one of the main economic players in the region and employ around 850 people. We support various NGOs and communities in villages such as St-Hubert and St-Hilaire that are poorly served by the public transport system. Through our projects, we will create more jobs. We care about people. Social cohesion is important, and we’re concerned about the growing drug problem. It’s essential to fight against this scourge as well as against school drop-out.”
Protecting the environment and the lagoon is also close to CBVL’s heart, and the company has become a partner of the NGO Reef Mauritius in its coral replanting project in the Blue-Bay Marine Park. The aim is to restore over 1.6 hectares of coral and train over a hundred community members. The United Nations Development Programme is providing financial support for this project. “Integrating young people into such projects is important. We want them to become responsible citizens attached to their picturesque region,” insists Thierry Merven.
Still on the subject of the environment, CBVL’s CEO group recalls that the sinking of the Wakashio in July 2020 had a major impact on the region, especially on the fishing and boating community. “At our level, given that the borders were closed, we can’t say that the shipwreck has affected the frequentation of our hotels since tourists couldn’t come anyway. But we don’t really know what the long-term effects of this oil slick will be, even if there are no longer any visible traces following the clean-up work carried out by two foreign companies. Marine biologists will be monitoring the impact on biodiversity. But beyond the Wakashio, human activity has repercussions on the environment. Pollution comes from effluent and septic tanks. All this causes a rise in sea level and water temperature in particular. We want to raise awareness about this”. concludes Thierry Merven.