At RLB Indian Ocean, which encompasses Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka, we continue to adjust, evolve and expand in order to embrace the new opportunities; respond to the industry demands and convert obstacles into advantages.
The Indian Ocean region has established itself as a favoured international tourist destination due to its pristine beaches, azure waters, exotic marine life and luxury accommodation offerings in idyllic settings. The unfortunate extended period of restrictions and lockdowns enforced for the Covid-19 pandemic had drastic impacts on the Indian Ocean region, due to its predominant reliance on tourism and imports, two of the key economic growth factors for the region. However, the Indian Ocean region demonstrated its resilience and quickly bounced back following the suspension of worldwide lockdowns and restrictions.
Already in 2023, Maldives and Zanzibar exceeded pre-Covid tourist volumes, with Mauritius and Seychelles achieving similar numbers in 2023, as were the case pre-Covid.
Notwithstanding the draconic impacts of Covid-19, there were some positive spinoffs that created new and improved opportunities, not only in the hotel and resort sector, but also for the construction industry in general. Investor demand trends for the resort sector have shifted to a need for end products that are bigger, and more family orientated; provide more privacy and exclusivity; are more technologically advanced and respond to sustainable values and initiatives.
In addition to this market trend shift post-pandemic, travelers’ eagerness to travel (boosting the tourism sector), as well as an increased requirement by foreign investors for diversification of investments, have given rise to a demand for an overall ease-of-investment experience in addition to more and better infrastructure along with improved service delivery. It is positive to observe that local governments within the Indian Ocean region have responded well to these demands by incentivising foreign investments and securing infrastructure projects.
Despite the positive opportunities and trends, challenges still exist, which need to be tackled collectively, if these are going to be converted into opportunities. Due to the Indian Ocean region relying heavily on imported products and raw materials (as a result of a lack of local manufacturing capabilities), market trends, like increased raw material costs; drastic shipping cost increases and sector volatility, as well as weak and / or volatile local currencies when compared to the USD (most traded currency in the world), have exacerbated impacts on the construction sector for the Indian Ocean region specifically and this is quite evident when observing Tender Price Indices which have increased quite significantly in some parts of the Indian Ocean region.
At RLB Indian Ocean, which encompasses Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka, we continue to adjust, evolve and expand in order to embrace the new opportunities; respond to the industry demands and convert obstacles into advantages. By expanding our service offering to include sustainability services; digitalising our project management and quantity surveying/cost management services; providing client- focused and tailored offerings; capitalising our international experience to yield cost-and time-effective solutions and having a very hands-on approach during the complete lifecycle of construction projects, we have not only set ourselves apart from our peers, but we have also become industry trendsetters.
While we continue to grow and expand, we look forward to embracing change, improving our service offerings and continuing to partner with new and existing clients, to deliver landmark construction projects that improves the construction landscape of the Indian Ocean.
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