Island for Sale?
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Island for sale? An explorative research into foreign investment in the (residential) tourism industry of Mauritius Tessa Wortman 3670996 Master’s Thesis 2012/2013 International Development Studies Utrecht University Supervisor: Prof. G. van Westen 1 Utrecht University Graduate School of Geosciences MSc International Development Studies 2012/2013 Supervised by: Prof. G. van Westen Host organization: Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. R. Donaldson 2 Table of contents Executive summary p.5 Preface p.6 Chapter 1: Introduction p.7 1.1Topic introduction p.7 1.2 Problem identification p.8 1.3 Thesis structure p.9 Chapter 2: Theoretic-thematic framework p.11 2.1: Tourism and residential tourism as a development strategy p.11 2.2: Foreign investment and foreign landownership in the (residential) tourism industry p. 14 2.3: Impacts of (residential)tourism development p.17 2.3.1: Economic impacts p.17 2.3.2: Spatial impacts p.19 2.3.3: Environmental impacts p.20 2.3.4: Socio-cultural impacts p.22 2.4: Local perceptions and the sustainability of the (residential)tourism industry p.25 Chapter 3: Geographical Framework p.30 3.1 National Context of Mauritius p.30 3.1.1 Mauritius: an introduction p.30 3.1.2 The Mauritian Miracle p.32 3.1.3 From a fordist society to a post fordist society p.33 3.1.4 Foreign Direct Investment and the foreignisation of land p.36 3.2 The Black River Area and Tamarin p.37 Chapter 4: Research framework and methodology p.40 4.1 Research questions p.40 4.2 Conceptual model p.41 4.3 Methodology p.42 4.3.1 Quantitative data collection p.43 4.3.2 Qualitative data collection p.43 4.4 Main limitations p.44 4.5 Main concepts and operationalization p.45 4.5.2 Operationalizing the main concepts p.45 4.5.1 Defining the main concepts p.47 Chapter 5: Foreign direct investment p.52 5.1: Relevant strategies and policies p.52 5.2: Foreign investment in Mauritius p.55 Chapter 6: Impacts and perceptions p.59 6.1 Economic impacts and perceptions toward these impacts p.60 6.2 Spatial impacts and perceptions toward these impacts p.64 6.3 Environmental impacts and perceptions toward these impacts p.69 6.4 Socio-cultural impacts and perceptions toward these impacts p.70 6.5 Level of tourism and further development p.73 Chapter 7: Conclusion p.80 3 Appendix 1: References p.84 Appendix 2: List of figures p.89 Appendix 3: List of tables p.90 Appendix 4: List textboxes p.91 Appendix 5: Questionnaire p.92 4 Executive summary When thinking of Mauritius most people imagine a peaceful, rural island with white sand beaches and palm trees. However, in a relatively short time Mauritius changed from an agricultural mono-crop economy to a booming tourism destination. This shift has drastically changed, and continues to change, the islands economy, its appearance and the everyday life. Residential tourism and tourism have the potential to promote growth, create jobs, increase foreign exchange rates and generate revenue for governments. However, (residential)tourism has also been associated with possible negative effects for the host area. By viewing perceptions toward (residential)tourism development as feedback upon taken action, current en future problems can be identified en corrected. This will help to minimize negative impacts and maximize the contribution of (residential)tourism to the sustainable development of Tamarin. Many of these (residential)tourism related developments are the result of the large amounts of foreign investment flowing into the country. The island has been relatively successful in attracting foreign investment over the years, especially into the (residential)tourism sector. The main research question which this thesis aims to answer is therefore: What role does foreign investment play in the developments in the (residential)tourism industry of Mauritius and to what extent are these developments threatening or contributing to the sustainable development of Tamarin? The findings in this thesis are based upon desk research, 400 questionnaires that have been conducted within Tamarin, and 30 in depth interviews with both key figures and local residents. When looking at foreign direct investment, policies such as the Integrated Resort Scheme and the Real Estate Scheme have been extremely successful in boosting investments. The latest area of interest of many foreign investors in this sector has been Tamarin. The large scale (residential)tourism developments that are taking place are likely to have some significant impacts on Tamarin and the local residents who live there. To determine to what extent these (residential)tourism developments are threatening or contributing to the sustainable development of Tamarin, the main impacts and especially the perceptions toward these impacts have been researched. The main findings of the questionnaire results and the in depth interviews are: Positive perceived impacts Negative perceived impacts Increase property prices Job creation Increase prices goods and services Investment flow Increase squatter settlements Better infrastructure Over crowding More facilities Feelings of exclusion and inequality Social polarization International connections Loss of culture Although the majority of the respondents feels (residential)tourism is at the correct level, they also expressed that further (residential)tourism development will bring more benefits than costs to Tamarin. This is interesting, as both the questionnaire and the in depth interviews revealed some major concerns when it comes to further (residential)tourism development. Local residents appear to be very aware of the negative impacts recent developments have had on their town and its people, however, the allure of more jobs, increasing income levels and new investments continue to outweigh these issues. This indicates that although the economy is clearly shifting for fordist to post-fordist, the expected associated shift to a more post-modern society is not (yet) that visible 5 Preface This thesis is the final product of my master International Development Studies at Utrecht University. Although this master thesis has been a struggle at times, and definitely took me longer than intended, I have nothing but beautiful memories of doing my research in South Africa and Mauritius. I will never forget the people I have met, the lessons I have learnt, the friends I have made and the experience I have gained. First of all I want to thank my two supervisors, Guus van Westen and Ronnie Donaldson. Guus van Westen, I want to thank you for your patience, feedback and support. I highly appreciate the fact that you did not give up on my research, even when I was close to giving up myself. Ronnie Donaldson, I want to thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity, your feedback and for welcoming me to your beautiful country, South Africa. Baie Dankie! I also want to thank Mrs. Juwaheer from the University of Mauritius for helping me with my questionnaire and introducing me to people in Mauritius. Also, the group of students who have helped me conducting the questionnaire. Without their help and language skills I would have not been able to get the response that I have now. Of course I want to thank the two amazing young women who I have met during my premaster year, Elle de Jong en Roos Oppers. Not only are they great friends to have, their advice and feedback has helped me tremendously. In addition, my parents and boyfriend deserve a thank you. Both for giving me the opportunity to spend some time abroad and for putting up with me when I was stressing out. Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank all the Mauritians I have met during my time in their country. Without their honesty, help and enthusiasm I would not have been able to do this research. This island will always have a special place in my heart and hopefully life will guide me back to this place someday. I hope you will enjoy reading this thesis! 6 Chapter 1: Introduction You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven… and that heaven was a copy of Mauritius" (Mark Twain). 1.1. Topic introduction When thinking of Mauritius most people imagine a peaceful, rural island with white sand beaches and palm trees. However, in a relatively short time Mauritius changed from an agricultural mono-crop economy to a booming tourism destination. This shift from an agricultural countryside to a countryside with new economic activities that are linked to consumptive activities is also referred to as a shift from productivism to post productivism. Tourism and residential tourism have increasingly been implicated as contributing to such change, especially in the case of Mauritius. This shift to post productivism has drastically changed, and continues to change, the islands economy, its appearance and the everyday life. Because this shift resulted in fast economic development, it is now also referred to as the ‘Mauritian Miracle’. The fast development the island has been experiencing over the past years made it an example for many other countries. However, with a continues flow of foreign investment into (residential)tourism developments, questions about the sustainability of the Mauritian (residential)tourism industry arise. When the island first started to attract large amounts of tourists during the 1970s, tourism related developments mainly took place in the north of the island. Visitors were looking to spend their holiday at the white sand beaches or shopping in the chaotic shopping districts of the already relatively developed area. However, more recently it is the less developed Black River district in the south-west of Mauritius that is experiencing a major increase in tourism activities. Moreover, the area is facing an immigration boom, with wealthy foreigners buying their own piece of paradise.