by James Ruggia
Last updated: 3:15 PM ET, Tue February 3, 2015
Though people imagine Tahiti to be at the end of the rainbow, it's really just an eight hour flight from Los Angeles. If there's a rainbow involved it's the one being flown by Air Tahiti Nui, which seems to have found its pot of gold in the steady ascent of sales out of the U.S. market.
"We are up 15 percent in passengers and 17 percent in revenues from January through October in 2014," said Nick Panza, Air Tahiti Nui's vice president for the Americas. One of the secrets of that success is the airline's penchant for working cooperatively with the trade and especially with agents.
Air Tahiti Nui, like Tahiti Tourisme (another Travvy Award Winner), puts travel agents front and center in its marketing. The destination and the airline need the sales assistance that agents offer because it is the classic complex sort of destination that greatly benefits from agent consultation.
The travel market to Tahiti offers agents a destination whose travelers are often honeymooners, romance travelers and destination wedding guests who are willing to spend extra for that special event, making it an extremely lucrative destination for agent commission.
"We believe in having agents experience the product and the destination they're selling," said Panza (pictured left). "We offer reduced rates in both economy and business class to agents. We also believe it's important to build a personal bridge to the agents. Our sales staff is out visiting agencies. They're on the phone with agents and keeping that relationship strong. We do our bit to be as agent friendly as possible."
And thousands of agents responded by bestowing Air Tahiti Nui with a Travvy Award as the Best Foreign Airline.
That spirit of partnership in the trade extends beyond the travel agent community. Air Tahiti Nui also works closely with such tour operators as Classic Vacations, Goway, Pleasant Holidays and Tahiti Legends to create packages with low entry price points that give agents something they can sell up front.
"Between November and January we are out there every year with very saleable products at great price points," said Panza.
The stopover packages that the airline offers for passengers flying to New Zealand and Australia from Los Angeles are also useful for an agent who can combine a lucrative journey Down Under with a stopover that adds extra commission and may help sell the client on a subsequent trip to Tahiti or even other Polynesian destinations.
"Our main focus, of course, is Tahiti, with about 85 percent of our business going there, but these stopovers serve several purposes," Panza said. "Tahiti attracts about 65,000 Americans per year, while New Zealand attracts about 200,000 and Australia 500,000. If we can get some of those travelers to stop over or extend their vacations in Tahiti for two or three days, we get more business and maybe get those people to return for a longer stay on a vacation focused in Tahiti."
It all goes into why Tahiti and travel agents, including the Tahiti Tiare specialists, are so important to each other.
"It's a destination that is too complex to book on a computer or even using online travel agents. And the agents that are out there today have been under pressure for 20 years due to shrinking commissions and other market forces. That adversity has left the top professionals standing; the ones who work and study hard to stay on top of their game. They understand the destinations, the products in those destinations and they understand their consumers."
Air Tahiti Nui makes their passengers feel as if they've arrived in Tahiti once they've boarded the plane, as you can see here.
Part of that ability comes from the fact that the airline works so integrally with the other suppliers and professionals who work in the U.S. market promoting Tahiti. In a sense you've entered a Tahitian village when you slide into your Air Tahiti Nui seat.
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