Below is an Autogenerated Transcript

Ron: SALT of Palmar was a new brand. Correct. Generated out of LUX* when you became the LUX* collective. Mm-hmm. And then moved global headquarters of Lux* Collective from Mauritius to Singapore, where we both reside today. So the SALT brand, that authentic eco tourism, the cultural purist, the person who really wants…What’s actually happening here? There was a lot of innovation done there regarding the garden and the kitchen and the whole connection with nature and the environment. Would you like to speak about some of those? 

Paul: Absolutely. You know,  SALT is for the ethical and ecological purist. Like the guest who is different to the guest of a LUX*. The guest of a LUX*  is more of somebody who wants to come, stay in the hotel, enjoy the pleasures of the environment of the hotel, and perhaps a little bit outside, but not too much because they really love being in the hotel. SALT is the complete opposite. By the way, you can be both. You can be one time a LUX* person wanting that experience and another time you can be a SALT person wanting that experience. What SALT provides is a base from which you can explore. Explore nature, explore the Island, the people, make connections with the people of Mauritius. 

You know, I came here in 1975 and I never stop marveling at how wonderful the people are. Their broad smiles. When you look and examine the origins of people here, you have to first understand that there were no inhabitants here. Everyone’s an immigrant here. Everyone’s an immigrant. They had the Dodo. As I tell my young son that the Dodo unfortunately got stuck in the muddy puddles, he recites the story because he was born here. Unfortunately, because they couldn’t fly, they were extinct and that is very sad. But the people who populate this wonderful Island have come from India, from Africa, from Europe, and, you know, often called a melting pot. But culturally, all the contributions that have been made of the different religious practices and spirituality and language and customs and cultures- it’s just phenomenal. It really is. It’s deep. It’s very deep-seated with people that, you know, you will see the temples, and they’re not there for show. They’re there because people practice their beliefs and their different practices, which is fantastic.

Ron: So SALT then actually helps to take the tourists into the culture, to appreciate the crafts and the culture and the cuisine and the community and the people, and creates a very different relationship then. A bond between not only the guest and the community, but the community and the resort itself. So you’re providing employment, you’re providing connection, you’re actually purchasing the things that are… Circular economy. Exactly. Yeah, definitely. So now SALT, that is the nature of the ethos of that particular brand. Correct. Correct. Yet we’ve seen this now starting to ripple into other brands within the LUX* community.