The French Polynesian government has approved plans for a hotel and resort complex on the island of Tahiti which will cost US$2.5bn (€1.9bn, £1.5bn).

A jury of nine – comprising ministers from the government, the local mayor, a member of the country’s airline company Air Tahiti Nui and other advisors – backed the project led by Hawaiian architecture company Group 70 International, to develop the Tahiti Mahana Beach Resort and Spa on 52 hectares on the island’s west side – in the commune of Punaauia.

In line with efforts to create a sustainable resort, the project is set to include US$130m (€96m, £76m) Sea Water Air Conditioning (SWAC,) which uses cold water from the oceans depths.

The resort and spa will feature five hotels of three, four, five and six stars in addition to condominiums with a total of 3,128 rooms. Other facilities include a public park, a marina, an authentic artisan Tahitian marketplace, a casino, a waterpark, a golf and tennis club, a bowling alley, a cinema complex and a spa.

A six-star hotel and casino will feature 277 bedrooms and a six-star hotel and spa will include 108 rooms. The resort's five-star hotel will offer 322 bedrooms and the two four-star hotels will comprise 370 and 339 bedrooms respectively. The three-star hotel will have 813 rooms. A total of 493 “timeshare” apartments will be available in addition to 406 condominium apartments.

In its speech to the government, Group 70 International explained that the occupancy rate in Hawaiian resorts it has worked on previously is currently at 85 per cent. The company assured the jury that the same rate can be achieved at the Tahiti Mahan Beach Resort and Spa in 10 years.

The French Polynesian government is embarking on this project to double the hotel capacity in Polynesia in five years and, in the process, create 10,500 local jobs.

“The Mahana Beach resort will be the first real French Polynesian tourist development,” said the President of French Polynesia, Gaston Flosse, in a statement in July last year – before Group 70 International had been chosen as developers.

After choosing the developers, Flosse explained in a press release that he would find interested investors to finance the project. He also said that he would ask the principal architect of Group 70 International, Francis Oda, to take a look at ways in which the costs could be lowered.

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