The L'Union Estate management is exploring the possibility of offering equestrian services at the L'Union Estate Park on La Digue, Seychelles' third most populated island, and an expression of interest has been launched to attract potential investors for the idea.

The chief executive and financial controller of the L'Union Estate Company, David Okello, told SNA that L'Union Estate used to have horses maintained and kept within the Estate as an attraction.

"We want to bring this back to L'Union as part of our tourism plan to create and offer more diverse attractions within the Estate. Horses are beautiful and we would also like to offer the local community a glimpse and a chance to see horses roaming freely in the Estate, we hope to attract not only tourists with this but also locals. We expect to attract more visitors to the Estate," he said.

Okello said they received a lot of interest from investors so far and apart from the horse project, L'Union Estate intends to diversify its attractions.

"We are in the process of having Electric Quad bike riding within the Estate, there are also plans to have Penny Farthing bicycles in the Estate. One proprietor has made plans to build a Creole cafeteria, which will offer Creole traditional cuisine. There are also plans to build a museum to showcase the old pictures and antique products of La Digue. A paddle club for surfing is also in the works," he added.

Okello said their plans also include a monthly special event that aims to improve the nightlife of La Digue.

"We also anticipate having a L'Union Bazaar in collaboration with the Tourism Department, the Bazaar will be scheduled to be operational every last Friday of the month from 5 pm to midnight. The plan aims to enhance the night experience in La Digue; we will have participants selling food and also have Moutya [dancing]. Once all these become operational, we anticipate that visitors to L'Union will enjoy their time within the park," explained Okello.

L'Union Estate is a state-owned enterprise that falls under the responsibility of the Ministry for Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry.

It manages one of the island's most beautiful beaches, Anse Source D'Argent, and is renowned for its large vanilla plantation covering 2.2 hectares with 3,584 vines of vanilla.

Plans to revitalise and make the Estate more profitable started last July after being approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.