Tahiti for everyone

Jonica Paramor, Tahiti Tourisme’s Regional Director for Australia dispelled some pre-conceived impressions of Tahiti on Monday evening at the Tahiti Meets Bathers industry event, in the superb setting of Balmoral’s Bather’s Pavilion in Sydney.

Tahitian drummers, musicians and dusky dancing maidens, set the scene for Jonica’s messages, which stressed that while of course Tahiti is a great destination for honeymooners, Tahiti and her islands are much, much more and that now is the time for Australians to discover Tahiti’s diversity.

A key factor in the increasing numbers of Australian tourists to visiting Tahiti has been the introduction of twice weekly non-stop air services from Australia with Air Tahiti Nui, increasing to three services a week at the end of March.  Air Tahiti Nui also offers the opportunity to fly on via Tahiti to leading international destinations, including Paris and New York.  What an exciting  way to travel by enjoying a three day Tahitian stopover on the way say to New York and another three days on the way back!

The diversity of the Tahitian tourism offering and the availability of non stop air services are both assisting in attracting more visitors to Tahiti, with a 25% increase to 10,000 from Australia by 2005.

So what is this “new” Tahiti all about – well it is actually still the amazing Tahiti, but it is just that excellent product development and the construction of some amazing new hotels, allows her to appeal to different visitors and appealing to broader ranges of interest.  It is also a Tahiti which is not just about the main islands, but also the many others can now be accessed.

Jonica added that research showed that women were the holiday decision makers (!!!), and that they and their partners, described by Jonica as adventurous men (for The Mole that has to be an oxymoron?) are looking for romance, but a more mature, renewal type of romance, one that appeals to all ages, even as old as the Mole – seeking, peace, tranquility, amazing scenery in idyllic resorts and eco friendly and environmentally sensitive locations – an opportunity to renew one’s sanity and get away for the stresses and strains of life!

Tahiti has an uniqueness that others cannot offer because of its French influences, French cuisine and most importantly by not being a cheap destination, the freedom brought about by not being overrun by tourists.

Tahiti does offer great value for money though and some of Australia’s leading operators offer Tahiti programmes, including, Qantas Holidays, Air New Zealand Holidays, Coral Seas and Adventure World.

Tahiti Toruisme will spend more than $A1m in Australia this year promoting this delightful destination, which is double the spend in previous years.  

This includes promoting and operating the Tahitian Specialist agent programme Tiare, which includes workshops, familiarisations, seminars and referrals with a really interesting holiday bank system through which agents can build up free night in Tahiti by booking clients to Tahiti.

Further information on Tahiti and the Tiare agents programme can be obtained from www.tahiti-tourisme.com.au and from March 1, 2006 from www.tahitinow.com.au

Report by The Mole