Beau Vallon Bay Beach tourism stakeholders set to develop ‘Golden Mile’ concept to give area a face lift

BEAU VALLON TO GET FACE LIFT, BECOME MORE USER FRIENDLY


(Courtesy of Google Maps 2012)
One of the Seychelles best known beaches, Beau Vallon Bay Beach, is set to get spruced up and made more user friendly, following a meeting between Ministers Alain St. Ange, Tourism and Culture and Joel Morgan, Transport and Internal Affairs, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board Elsia Grandcourt and private sector stakeholders led by the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association.
Proposals were discussed last Saturday to make the entire area, along the beach but also the key roads, more friendly for tourist visitors, with more lights to illuminate the paths and roads at night and walk ways and improved landscaping to beautify the area during the day.
Several key beach resorts and restaurants are located along the wider Beau Vallon Bay, such as the Meridien Fishermens Cove, the Berjaya Beau Vallon Resort and Casino or, a little further up the coast, the Hilton Northolme, besides a number of Seychellois owned guest houses and Bed & Breakfast establishments with easy access to the sweeping beach from one end of the bay to the other, amongst them the Bord Mer Guest House. Also located on this stretch of beach are the Boathouse, a famous Creole specialty restaurant and the Al Mare right at the beach, where the freshest seafood is served either outdoors on the terrace or indoors.
Said a regular source upon making enquiries as to the thrust of the meeting: Stakeholders with business interests in the Beau Vallon and Bel Ombre area are very keen to see improvements made to this part of Mahe. It has been proposed to put up life guard stations along the beach and increase patrols by police, maybe even with an extra police outpost in a strategic place. The entire area can be made look much better through gardening and landscaping measures. A lot of tourists like to walk, so sidewalks could be created where possible or boardwalks put up. Attractive shop fronts and boutiques will attract buyers and restaurants with outdoor seating in comfortable surroundings with a look over the ocean will be in demand by visitors enjoying drinks or meals.
Seychelles is rebranding and so every part of the island must play a part in that, to get a fresh look which repeat tourists will appreciate. And we need to keep such areas completely safe for our visitors, and our local residents too. The initiatives by the tourist board and in particular the Minister are moving us in the right direction and those with a stake in business now can voice their issues and concerns.

Similar meetings have been held in the recent past at regular intervals also on the islands of La Digue and Praslin, aimed to capture the sentiments and input from the private sector and it seems that this level of consultative interaction is yielding results with major initiatives like the Victoria beachfront upgrade and now the creation of a Golden Mile along the Beau Vallon Bay Beach area. Watch this space.

8 Responses

  1. This is a long time awaited top priority for Seychelles. It should be a major concern of all stakeholders in this industry. Innovations as such should cover the whole geaographical attrations of this beautiful island country. Keep up the excellent works Mrs Grandcourt.

  2. Of course we do – but the danger now is becoming ‘just another destination.We need to look at destinations like Spain and closer to us Indonesia …When we will be like evrybody else why would people pay more to experience same stuff???

    1. Actually I personally see no danger to ever become like other destinations, because the Seychelles are so special, offer such varied attractions and locations and being small here is beautiful … numbers alone never matter, it is the quality that goes with it and that can only be truly maintained when the growth goes to a certain point and then, to keep tourism sustainable, levels out.
      Thank you for reading my blog.
      W.

  3. Sorry to say this but it is already well o the way to becoming like other destinations….Most of it has happened very quickly over the last 5 years….