Lux Grand gaube in Mauritius

What are the difficulties with changing venues at the last minute?

Well, we have set a deadline 3 weeks before the event so it cannot be considered as a “last minute” change. A festival requires planning, site visits with suppliers, communication with clients, contracts with artists… We did not want to take the risk of having to change venues a few days before the festival. The decision we took was the right one.

We offered many options to our clients: Their one day pass was automatically upgraded to 3-day pass, the accommodation bought through our platform were transferred to LUX* Grand Gaube (as 100% of our clients were willing to move there) and we also offered the refund option which only 5% of our clients took. I believe that one should be transparent with their clients even if some of them were highly disappointed. But let us be honest here, the new location is incredible!

It is your 3^rd Edition of Mauritius Unwavering and back at LUX* Grand Gaube, what do you like in this resort?

LUX* Grand Gaube is a unique piece of art. 

First, people who are checking-in come for the same reason, so wherever you walk you will get to see people with high vibes, on every floor sipping a drink or dancing. The layout of the resort itself makes the atmosphere festive and intimate, in the sense that you feel you are only surrounded by friends.

Second, the specialized restaurants are SO GOOD! I love having lunch at Bodrum Blue and we have set-up a 4-hour House music for our boozy lunch there on Saturday. INTI is ranked as the best restaurant in Mauritius on TripAdvisor and Beach Rouge is ranked no3!

Third, the locations where we are building the stages are out of this world, sea facing and large spaces with green, white, and turquoise colors wherever you look at.

You brought international artists in the middle of the pandemic, was it difficult to convince them and what are the extra costs associated?

Indeed, it is very difficult to convince artists to come to Mauritius with the quarantine conditions, it needs some PR skills to make them understand that quarantine is the main reason why we are Covid-free, that they will spend it in a nice resort and that we will take care of them and organize their holidays on the island post-quarantine.

The cost to bring artists is higher than pre-covid because of the quarantine costs but also because of the devaluation of the Mauritian Rupee. Between the flights, artists fees, quarantine fees, transport and stay expenses, it is costing a lot more than we usually pay for. 

This was a choice we took to bring musical diversity and we do not regret it one bit. Nakadia will stay for one full month and we are planning some gigs together until the beginning of January. Both Worakls and Nakadia have agreed to play twice during the festival to amortize the costs for us, our clients will be happy… everybody wins!

You have organized the Mauritius Unwavering festivals in August, October and December, what are your unique selling points to still be able to attract large amounts of people and not get them bored?

None of our festivals look alike. You can ask our clients if any PURE felt like the same during the past four years. Even in 3 weeks’ time, we can curate a very innovative festival because our creativity is backed by 10+ years’ solid experience.

To answer your question directly, first we are bringing high caliber international artists who will play both on Friday and Saturday, second we are the firsts introducing the RFID wristband in Mauritius, third we are changing the layout slightly compared to the first edition and fourth the decoration is going to be amazing.

Our people do not look at something completely different between the PUREs, they are looking at discreet, subtle changes. We aim at the high-end market who are looking at a “same but different” spirit.

What is the next step for you in terms of event management in Mauritius?

As long as tourists are not coming to the island, we will continue to organize our 3-day format every two to three months. For now, the visibility is blurred, we can only base ourselves on the projections of the World Tourism Organization which predicts that global tourism will get back on its feet by 2023. 

Mauritius is lagging behind its direct competitors and events can be a strong leverage to attract the HNWI and Digital Nomads. When tourism gets back on its feet, we hope that no one will forget that it was events which were generating revenue for resorts, put a smile on the staff faces and make clients happy in the middle of the pandemic.

I am very confident that we have created a long-lasting relationship with the tourism industry which will materialize in an international festival to attract high-end markets.