New brand, new experiences and Mauritian identity: Sun Resorts becomes Sunlife. Yann Lloret, director of sales and marketing for France and Belgium at Sunlife, gives an update on this change of concept for L’Echo touristique.
L’Echo touristique: Why change brands?
Yann Lloret: Our group, which will soon be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, has already operated under several brands. Sun Resorts had been around for about 15 years, and we felt it was time to freshen it up a bit. Quite simply because a new brand was needed to embody the evolution of our group’s philosophy. We took advantage of the forced break during the pandemic to reflect on our identity, the values we want to convey to the market, our link with Mauritius. It is a reflection that focused as much on what we offer our customers as on what we offer our employees. So it was a lot of work, internally, with the group’s 2,800 employees.
What does this new brand embody?
Yann Lloret: Our new philosophy is more than ever focused on Mauritius, the special light found there, the warmth of its inhabitants. “Life” contains all this vision, this specific energy, the Mauritian lifestyle side. It also translates our policy for a tourist activity that is more respectful of the environment. We were already committed, through our SunCare program, but this time we are setting the bar much higher. All of these values are also found in the new experiences we offer our customers, which we have grouped under the name “Come Alive”.
Are these experiences that you offer in each of your four hotels?
Yann Lloret:Some experiences are common to all of our properties, and others are specific to the atmosphere or environment of each hotel. At Sugar Beach, on which we have invested 14 million euros in renovation, we are betting on the old-world British atmosphere of Mauritius. We organize the tea ceremony every afternoon, with more than 450 references. Stylists can also give our customers a makeover for a chic evening, during which we will lend them tuxedos, evening dresses and other glamorous accessories. At Long Beach, it is the environment and well-being that are in the spotlight. We organize workshops in our gardens, we have a coral breeding station, the main square of the hotel will host artists, etc… At La Pirogue, which is organized like a typical Mauritian village, we will find the atmosphere of Mauritius, with local merchants everywhere in the hotel, the presence of a storyteller in our gardens, or Sega Zumba classes, a very special mix of Zumba and Sega. These are the kinds of new experiences we offer our customers.
Behind this change of brand, there is no change of economic model.
Does this redesign work also concern your digital tools?
Yann Lloret: It’s a global overhaul, on which we all worked for 14 months. We knew the post-pandemic world wouldn’t be the same, and our customers would have different expectations. By refocusing on Mauritius, we are telling a new story to our customers, who are mainly B2B (80%), and to our employees. And that, of course, involved an overhaul of our digital tools as well. We are therefore launching a new website, Your Sunlife, as well as a new application, which will make our customers’ stay easier. All this allows us to maintain the link with our customers while bringing modernity to our way of operating.
Changing a brand if installed in the B2B landscape, isn’t that risky?
Yann Lloret: That’s why, among other things, we kept “Sun” in our new brand. From now on, it is up to us to ensure that this message gets across to our partners. Of course, our sales representatives will communicate on this subject. We will organize a roadshow in this sense, and we will invite 150 international partners – including 40 from France – for a trip to Mauritius in December to find out what this brand change means in our hotels. There will be management of tour operators, distribution networks, all the product managers on the market, agencies specializing in MICE, etc. And we are supporting this system with a major communication campaign, in B2B and B2C , and in the specialist press.
Is it a strategy that aims to increase the B2C market share?
Yann Lloret: Not necessarily. We communicate to make our hotels more visible, so that customers walk into a travel agency and ask “I want a Sunlife hotel”. Our objective is rather to increase their notoriety, with the general public as well as professionals, and not to take market share on the B2C. We have always needed the support of distribution and tour operators, that will not change. And, today, it is truer than ever. Behind this change of brand, there is no change of economic model.
