Tahiti Minister Of Tourism Meets New Air France-KLM Director For The Americas Region

Tourism Minister Nicole Bouteau met Wednesday with Bas Gerressen, director of Air France-KLM for the Americas region. He was accompanied by Alex Hervet, Director of Air France in French Polynesia, and Arnaud Grimal, also representing Air France-KLM based in Atlanta.

Bas Gerressen started his career at KLM in 1999, before taking over as Sales Manager for Air France-KLM in Dubai for the Gulf Region in 2007. He was then appointed Group General Manager in China in 2013, before to take the leadership of North America in January 2018. The region includes the United States, Canada, Mexico and French Polynesia.

The Minister and Bas Gerressen exchanged on the evolution of the air and the receptive in Polynesia. The representative of Air France KLM believes that this opening to competition is good for Polynesian tourism while indicating that the company is preparing.

Group sales in French Polynesia are up and showing very satisfactory results in 2017 as well as for the first quarter of 2018. Due to the significant increase in competition on the Paris / Papeete and USA / Papeete, Air routes France is watching the upcoming changes in terms of booking. The company is always looking to balance sales across the three classes it offers: business class, eco premium and economy.

Sales to the destination are better thanks to the joint venture of Air France-KLM with Delta Airlines. Since July 2017, the destination Tahiti and its Islands is promoted and sold by Delta Vacation, Tour Operator of Delta, on its important network of American tour operators. Thus, the destination benefits from the marketing power of Delta Vacations. In the US market, between 75% and 80% of sales are concentrated in California, including 20% from a high-income clientele.

Representatives from Delta Vacations’ commercial management will participate in the first edition of “ParauParau Tahiti” organized by Tahiti Tourism from March 19th to 20th. This is a new event that will bring together three appointments in the year, product managers from the Pacific / Americas, Asia and Europe and local tourism stakeholders. In addition, Delta Vacation will also participate in meetings organized by Tahiti Tourisme US on the coast of the United States to increase the visibility of the destination.

Air France-French Polynesia also organizes for the 5 ^th consecutive year the “Air France Paddle Festival” to be held on Saturday 7 April. The race is registered on the SUP Race League World Circuit. This year the three best paddle world specialists will be present. One quarter of the participants in the pro-race category are foreign competitors. Beyond the course of the race, the images made allow Tahiti to shine internationally.

Nicole Bouteau thanked the delegation for the confidence that the Air France-KLM group has in the destination and reminded the importance of the historic partnership that binds Polynesia to the company.

(Source: Tahiti Ministry of Tourism Press Release 15 March La Presidence de la Francaise)

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