Tahiti Gathering U.S. Momentum

PHOTO: The jets of Air Tahiti Nui are among Cupid’s favorite arrows. (courtesy Air Tahiti Nui)

Some of the best arrows in his quiver are the jets of Air Tahiti Nui, the gateway to the world’s favorite romantic paradise.

The islands of Tahiti have seen U.S. tourist arrivals climb dramatically in the last four years. Between 2009 and 2013, North American arrivals to Tahiti rose from 40,780 to the 54,000 it reached last year, a 32 percent growth or an average of 8 percent per year.

“Romance travelers are our top market,” said Nick Panza, Air Tahiti Nui’s vice president for the Americas, “and about 25 percent of them are honeymooners, but we also get plenty of second honeymoons, destination weddings and romantic couples.” It’s a strong market that spends an average of 10 days. “For agents,” said Panza, “you can’t beat the commissions in Tahiti, much better than they can earn in the Caribbean or Mexico. People imagine Tahiti is on the other side of the world but it’s just eight hours from LAX. You get on the plane, have a meal, watch a movie, sleep and then wake up in Papeete.”

Panza cites several factors for Tahiti’s recent resurgence. “We’ve seen an increase in cruise capacity with Princess and Oceania joining Paul Gauguin Cruises in serving a growing cruise market. Air Tahiti Nui also offers stopover packages for flights bound for Australia and New Zealand, but admits, “We need to put more muscle into marketing them.”

The islands (there are 118 islands in French Polynesia) have also benefited from star turns on "The Bachelorette" and "The Amazing Race."

“TV exposure really works with our market, because we’re not an impulsive buy. People book us months in advance and these shows really get the ball rolling.”

Few destinations anywhere have a more integrated tourism industry than Tahiti where tour operators, hoteliers, the tourist office and the flag carrier Air Tahiti Nui work together to create products that move seamlessly toward the point of sale and the travel agent network. Over many years, Tahiti has learned that the more distant and exotic the destination, the better it is to show the client an air- and hotel- inclusive package, with a low price point.

“Agents have an important role in selling Tahiti because of the price and the distance,” said Panza. “It’s a complex product and so travelers really need the help of someone who knows the destination and all of its properties. Today we have some 300 Tahiti Tiare travel agents working in the U.S.”

To create these packages Air Tahiti Nui works closely with such important operators as Classic Vacations, Goway, Islands in the Sun, Pleasant Holidays and Tahiti Legends. Here is a Tahiti Legends video of the destination :

Air Tahiti Nui is promoting a series of nine air inclusive packages from Los Angeles that present Bora Bora, Tahiti, Moorea, Rangiroa, and Taha’a in a variety of combinations all with very attractive price points, under 3,000 all using deluxe and first class hotels.

The five-night package entitled Tahiti’s Hidden Paradise, for instance, features Tikehau, an island off path from the better known triumvirate of Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora. The package with a really attractive price of $2,398 per person double includes roundtrip air from Los Angeles, inter-island flights, a flower lei meet and greet with transfers and porterage, daily breakfast and a shell lei on departure. As always in Tahiti you do well to purchase a meal plan as meals in the resorts can be quite pricey.

French Polynesia competes with Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and Fiji for the same group of travelers. For years Tahiti Tourisme has considered the Overwater Bungalow a Tahitian specialty of iconic standing. In its marketing, Tahiti Tourisme stresses the destination’s lack of large mega hotels, and its powerful scenic combination of small islands and dramatic mountain profiles.

Panza, a long time veteran in Pacific aviation insists that Tahiti’s islands have advantages that put the competition behind. “The Maldives is doing well with the model that Tahiti created with overwater bungalows, but we’re not nearly as far or expensive.” Hawaii? “More people visit Hawaii in a week than visit Tahiti in a year.”