Steve Hartridge chats to Axelle Mazery, Chief Brand & Communication Officer and Sustainability Leader at Rogers Hospitality, which manages several resorts and attractions in Mauritius.
How long have you been with Rogers Hospitality and what are your main responsibilities?
I am in my fourth year with the company.
As the chief brand and communication officer and the sustainability leader, I manage the brand reputation, the brand positioning and all the brand partnerships for the group.
I also oversee our presence and visibility in the fields of PR, digital communications, online web development and all the graphic elements.
Tell us about Rogers Hospitality
We are a management company that operates hotels and destination leisure experiences in Mauritius. These include Heritage Resorts and Golf, Kaz’alala boutique hotel, Veranda Resorts and destination leisure activities such as the Bel Ombre Nature Reserve, Chamaral Seven Coloured Earth Geopark and its restaurant Le Chamaral Panoramic Restaurant, le Chateau de Bel Ombre, and World of Seashells.
Across the group, we have a good mix of luxury resorts: the five-star Heritage Resorts properties include Heritage Le Telfair Golf and Wellness Resort and Heritage Awalai Golf & Spa Resort and Heritage The Villas, and the Veranda Resorts brand features five boutique mid-range four-star boutique hotels.
Our aim is to create a space where every visitor, whether staying for a week or longer, can experience something exceptional and memorable.
Moreover, we are committed to a forward-looking vision of tourism characterised by inclusion and sustainability.
Heritage Resorts and Golf is now 20 years old. How did the brand develop and how has it grown over the years?
A 100% Mauritian brand, we celebrated our 20th anniversary last December. It has been quite a journey!
The name ‘Heritage’ came about as a homage to the cultural, historical and natural richness of the Domaine Bel Ombre, where Heritage Resorts and Golf operates on the southwest coast of the island.
Featuring three luxury resorts and two championship golf courses, we are located in a highly sensitive area: 2,500 hectares protected by its UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) label.
Heritage Resorts and Golf kicked off its journey in 2004 with the opening of its first two resorts: the five-star Heritage Awali and the all-suite Heritage Le Telfair, located on a former sugar cane field in Bel Ombre, with the resorts next to each other.
In 2005, the Château Golf Course opened its doors, and in 2007 the 19th-century colonial mansion Le Château de Bel Ombre was converted into a gastronomic restaurant offering refined local cuisine and was renovated in 2020.
The launch of a collection of rental villas (Heritage The Villas) in 2010 marked the beginning of a new era, followed by the opening of the C Beach Club in 2011.
The most recent addition was La Réserve Golf Links in December 2023.
What are the challenges of operating luxury resorts in a highly sensitive environmental area?
Operating in one of Mauritius’s most pristine areas is both challenging and rewarding!
There are different “zones” in this protected region.
For example, there is a Core Zone, which includes an endemic forest that no-one has access to apart from the Government, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, scientists and researchers.
Then there is Bel Ombre Nature Reserve, which is classified as a Secondary Zone; we have access but with limits and conditions.
In addition, there is the Transition Zone, where we are allowed to run our hotel operations and golf courses – but again these need to meet certain requirement.
For example, our hotels are Green Key certified (ED: an international certification that recognises tourism businesses that meet strict sustainability criteria) and our golf course are also certified.
In fact, La Reserve Golf Links, the only links course in the Indian Ocean, was the first golf course in Mauritius to be awarded GEO Certified® Development Status, which is the global standard for sustainable golf course design and construction – and we have had this in place right from the construction and implementation stage. This is an important certification as part of the golf course is at the edge of the UNESCO biosphere.
It sounds like sustainability objectives underpin everything you do at Heritage?
Sustainability has been part of our DNA from the very beginning and is one of the six pillars that guide all operations at Heritage Resorts and Golf.
The other five are Gastronomy, Wellness, Service, Golf and Tropical Lifestyle.
We firmly believe that our approach to sustainability is key to creating a truly exceptional and meaningful hospitality experience.
Our Now for Tomorrow programme structures our sustainability strategy around various “impact areas”, allowing us to go beyond what is expected and aim for real positive transformation.
We have a big range of initiatives in place, including one that measures our CO2 emissions and then we offset this by investing in local carbon capture and sequestration projects.
These (CO2 emissions) can differ from year to year, but we have become more precise in our measures.
Since October 1, 2021, we have offset 100% of the unavoidable carbon emissions related to guest stays at our hotels at Heritage Resorts.
We have also implemented efficient systems to measure, manage, and reduce pollutants and waste and actively partner with entrepreneurs to develop solutions addressing ecological and community challenges, such as reducing plastic use.
This year we are investing in photovoltaic panels, which converts thermal energy into electricity.
We are creating two photovoltaic farms in Bel Ombre and Case Noyale, on the western slopes of the Black River Mountain range, of two megawatts each.
These will ultimately account for around 80% of our energy consumption.
Our target is to reduce our electric consumption by 3% by the end of 2025, compared to 2022.
We are using LED lights and monitoring our electricity boards so we can instantly see what we are consuming at any one time.
We are sharing these initiatives with guests and are encouraging them to take their own steps, such as only having the AC on when they are in their rooms.
With Green Key Certification, we must ensure we are progressing each year. It is a certification that recognises you have reached a certain level but it also requires us to get better every year.
How do those other four guiding pillars impact the guest experience?
Our visitors can experience these (pillars) at every step of their stay with us at Heritage Resorts & Golf.
When it comes to Gastronomy, we use as much locally sourced produce as we can, whether that is from the island, region or elsewhere in the Indian Ocean region.
For example, we will not offer salmon sushi but instead have smoked marlin sushi and mango on the menu, which is line with our seafood catch and seasonal fruits and vegetables.
There are obviously some items we can’t source locally, such as wine and even cheese, so we import these – but we are careful about what we select and make sure these suppliers are in line with sustainability practices.
In terms of Wellness, we ensure that products we use in our Spa treatments are in line with sustainable practices or derived from essential oils naturally found in the region.
Heartfelt Service is another pillar, based on and derived from what is a Mauritian passion for offering the warmest hospitality possible.
The botanical aspect of where we are and what we do is appreciated by visitors, who on arrival will notice the flowers in our reception area that are taken from our gardens in Bel Ombre.
In fact, Heritage Le Telfair, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is named after the 19th-century Irish naturalist Charles Telfair. He and his wife loved the floral and botanical diversity at Bel Ombre and spent a lot of time there.
How difficult is it to get staff both tuned into these principles and trained to the level you need to execute these?
Yes, it is a challenge, and it takes a lot of training to ensure we are always executing the sustainability protocols I have mentioned.
But training is a key aspect of all the things I have mentioned and when we train team members, we encourage them to take those good practices home.
Training is not just about implementing a set of rules but also about getting the community to belief and invest in our initiatives. The benefits of this spreads throughout the island.
Our goal is to further strengthen our ties with the local community and involve our guests in our sustainability efforts.
We aim for every visitor to become an ambassador for our vision, actively supporting our ecological and community initiatives.
We see the future of tourism as an inclusive and sustainable experience.
We think it is the “only way”.
Mauritius is a bucket list destination for golfers and there are several options across the island. What makes the two Heritage courses so special?
We have two very different courses that are equally spectacular: Le Château, which is a parkland course and La Reserve Golf Links. They provide two very different golfing experiences and complement each other very well.
Le Château was laid out among the tropical landscaped grounds of a 19th Century chateau, and dotted with with lakes, streams and grand centenary trees. The fairways, which sweep down to the ocean, has hosted the Mauritius Open several times.
La Reserve Golf Course is a fabulous golf course that is very different to other courses on the island. It was created on former sugar cane fields that were restored to native grasslands.
Although less than two years’ old it has already won several awards and accolades.
At the end of 2024 it was awarded the title of Best New Golf Course by World Golf Awards and has already hosted the professional DP World Tour event, the Mauritian Open, in December 2023.
It is spectacular and beautiful: all holes have 180-degree sea views and golfers always play in a descending manner, with amazing views.
Playing it is an exhilarating experience and a challenge however good (or bad) a golfer you are.
Moreover, it also showcases Mauritius as the beautiful island that it is.
We want to entice more visitors just for the golf; that is groups of friends who travel to play bucket list golf courses around the world as well as those who come to Mauritius for a beach holiday and fancy playing a round whilst they are on the island.
Heritage recently launched a new initiative, the Marine Education Centre. Explain the importance of this.
We are working on two main projects which supports some big national causes in Mauritius and are delighted to embrace these as a major new element of our Sustainability pledge.
The aim is to educate guests of all ages staying at Heritage Resorts and Golf about the vital marine and coastal ecosystems in Mauritius and the crucial environmental roles they play.
One of the projects is a coral restoration programme. We are working with the UN’s Development Programme, with the NGO Reef Conservation and other hotels in the region to instal coral restoration tables into the lagoon. Ours will be installed between June-August this year. We are currently preparing them and training 10 of our team members at the hotel to be able maintain the coral tables, how to derive the necessary facts and figures and interpret the date.
We are also working on some seagrass initiatives. The beautiful thing is that people now understand that a lagoon is not just about its beautiful azure colour because there are 50 shades of blue. This is a sign of the healthiness of the lagoon.
How can visitors get involved?
This is a one-of-a-kind attraction in Mauritius and has been designed to cater for everyone aged from seven to 77 years old.
There are lots of touch points for guests to learn about what we are doing.
There are interactive exhibits and facts and figures on lagoon biodiversity, coral reefs, seagrass beds and coastal forests.
It has touchable screens, virtual reality videos and two aquariums where you can view the different fish we have in the lagoon.
It is much more than just an information centre; it is a place where you can learn and understand, and we share with them what we know and what we have discovered.
Most of us now better understand that pollution is all about “ridge to reef”, that is what you see on the ridge will end up in the reef.
We are working with two marine biologists at the centre and visitors can join them on various field trips. These include beach walks, a visit to the mangroves in the lagoon, discovering different corals, hearing about beach erosion and learning how we measure and get our data. There are also guided outings out to sea.
There is one activity a day, five days a week, and the experience lasts around 90 minutes.
Obviously, first and foremost we want our guests to enjoy their holidays, so we don’t push activities like this on them – but if anyone wants to dig deeper, participate for longer or even come back to us as a trainee, there are options.
The UK has always been an important for you, is this still the case?
Yes, the UK market is very important to us and one we really appreciate.
In fact, for Heritage Resorts and Golf the UK is our number one market.
And UK visitors really appreciate both the Heritage offering and Mauritius.
It has good “segmentation”, in terms of families, golfers, couples, honeymooners and weddings.
For the financial year 2022/23, from the UK we were up to nearly 32,000 room nights, which represents a 33% share of our total room nights.
For 2023/24, the UK was still number one, with similar figures of 28,461 room nights, which still added up to 32% of total room share.
For 2024/25, we are already at 26% (as of January 20, 2025), that is 33.7% of our total number of room nights).
So for this year we are almost at the total figure we achieved in 2023/24.
When numbers for the Heritage and Veranda brands are added together, the UK is our second largest market, with share of around 21% of all room nights.
What is it about Heritage Resorts that Brits like so much?
I think the appeal lies in the fact we offer a luxurious intimate experience that is presented with style but always with an eye on the environment.
Aside from the white-sand beach, guests appreciate our all-inclusive offering and particularly our premium all-inclusive package, Gourmet Bliss, which features 13 restaurants at Heritage Awali and Heritage Le Telfair.
We have launched an adults corner at Le Telfair, which is going down well, and now have adults’ and kids’ areas of the hotel.
In fact, we have a great kids’ offering and are the only hotel in Mauritius that offers a complimentary nursery service for little ones aged from three months to three years old.
In addition, the rooms are super spacious and with huge gardens, which appeals to both families and couples.
Our wedding programme, with dedicated personal butlers, is also popular.
We are expanding our range of activities all the time and these now include kitesurfing school, padel tennis, and weekly cooking and flower arranging classes (with a supplement). Other activities include sunset yoga and forest bathing, walking safaris, quad biking and mountain biking in the Bel Ombre Nature Reserve, and twice-weekly electro-bike rides along the south coast.
Our on-site World of Seashells museum has the largest collection of seashells on the African continent.
Outside of the resort, a hike up Le Morne mountain and dolphin-watching trips in Tamarin Bay are within a 30-minute drive.
