16 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
16 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ADVERTORIAL Saluting France’s Largest Tourist Destination Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the second most popular destination for the French and is third on the list for foreign visitors. We spoke to Michel Durrieu, the region’s Director General of Tourism and started by asking him about how Nouvelle-Aquitaine performed in 2017. Nearly 28 million tourists visited the region in 2017. Our destinations and sites have achieved exceptional results: air arrivals of foreigners were up 8% and there were attendance records for Lascaux and the Cité du Vin. The well known destinations of Bordeaux, the Dordogne Valley, Biarritz-Basque Country, the Pyrenees, etc. in the region promote gastronomy, culture, breathtaking natural landscapes and innovative and unique experiences. What are your short and mediumterm goals? Nouvelle-Aquitaine has the assets to become the first destination of the French. The goal is also to position the region for international tourists, just behind Paris and the Côte-d’Azur. While 28 million French and foreign tourists visited Nouvelle- Aquitaine in 2017, the 30 million tourists mark will be quickly exceeded. But it is also very important to look at the income and jobs created. Exceeding €16 billion in revenue and creating more than 40,000 jobs by 2020 seems realistic. Why should travel agents from all over the world recommend your region to their customers in priority? Several international rankings already recognise the tourist attractions of the regional destinations. The city of Bordeaux, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been recognised as “European Best Destination”, number two of the must-see cities according to the New York Times and ranked highly as a city by Lonely Planet. On the Atlantic coast, Conde NastTraveller has selected the Ile de Ré, Cap-Ferret and Biarritz as “Best seaside destination in France and Europe”. The region has no less than nine UNESCO World Heritage sites. Visitors to Nouvelle-Aquitaine appreciate the range of 100% authentic experiences available to them. You can take a cooking class with a local chef, go to the market with him and taste your creation; take the harvest at the winemaker or introduce yourself to the truffle harvest in the Dordogne. You can also explore the region in a different way by surveying 4200 kilometres of cycle routes, take surf lessons along the 720 kilometres of coastline, or improve your swing on one of our 81 golf courses. The destinations of Nouvelle-Aquitaine are easily accessible by plane thanks to the airports of Bordeaux, Biarritz, La Rochelle-Ile de Ré, Pau, Limoges, etc. which are experiencing strong growth. By the high-speed train from Paris, Bordeaux can be reached in two hours. To what extent is the international stature you acquired in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs an asset for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine CRT and for travel agents? My knowledge of the world of international tourism, I owe it first of all to my experience of more than 20 years in the biggest global groups of the tourism sector as Executive Director Spain, Latin America and Mediterranean area of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Director Marketing & e-business at TUI Spain and Managing Director Spain and International Director of the Internet subsidiary of Nouvelles Frontières. When I arrived at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2014 – a ministry that also deals with tourism policy – it was to develop the new strategy of the “Destination France”. That experience has given me a lot in my understanding of the global issues related to the development of this sector of activity both in terms of value creation and jobs. My seat as Permanent Representative of France to the World Tourism Organisation also allowed me to weave a great deal of links with our partner countries and to affirm France’s place as the world’s leading tourist destination. With all this experience, I am now focused on making Nouvelle-Aquitaine better known for its destinations of exceptional wealth. The challenge is big! Larger than Austria and more populous than Denmark, the region has the means of its ambitions: to become the unavoidable destination when it comes to French art de vivre, a destination of authenticity and unprecedented experiences, and THE destination for innovative, sustainable and resolutely forward-looking tourism Michel Durrieu General Director, regional Tourist Board, Nouvelle-Aquitaine LARGER THAN AUSTRIA AND MORE POPULOUS THAN DENMARK, THE REGION HAS THE MEANS OF ITS AMBITIONS (…) CLEVER TRAVEL IDEAS IN NOUVELLE- AQUITAINE The French region has commissioned a comprehensive SMARTguide by Cleverdis (publishers, amongst others, of ITB Berlin News), launched yesterday at ITB Berlin. Underlining the emergence of France’s biggest region as an international tourist destination, the SMARTguide reveals a land of great experiences in an exceptional variety of locations Pick up your copy at the ITB Berlin booth Hall 1.1 / Stand 201,201a ITB BERLIN NEWS • Thursday 8 th March 2018 www.itb-berlin-news.com
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 17 OUR TARGET IS TO PUSH TOURISM TO BE SRI LANKA’S HIGHEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNER Hon. John Amaratunga Minister, Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development, Christian Religious Affairs In an exclusive interview with ITB Berlin News, Hon. John Amaratunga, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs, explains how tourism is evolving in the country as arrival figures have increased dramatically over the last eight years. To be more specific arrivals which stood at 500,000 in 2010 shot up to 2.2 million last year and our estimate is that 2.5 million foreign tourists will visit the country this year. I believe this success is a result of the positive publicity the country has received globally in the recent past and also word of mouth by those who have visited. Tourism is now the third highest foreign exchange earner for the country and our target is to push it to number one in the not too distant future. We have a three-year strategic plan in place to achieve this goal. Which source markets are evolving the fastest, and who are you targeting in particular at ITB Berlin this year? Our leading source market is our neighbour India followed by our Asian counterpart, China. The UK comes in third followed by Germany and France. This is why Europe is very important for us in general and Germany in particular. Our marketing efforts at ITB Berlin will primarily revolve around these key markets. While we are encouraged by the response from nontraditional, new markets in the Americas and Australasia, our presence at ITB Berlin is to primarily target the German market, which has had very good relations with Sri Lanka even when things were not that great for tourism during the civil unrest which thankfully ended in 2009. Last year arrivals from Europe grew by 6% outpacing overall industry growth which was at 4%. According to our records 681,000 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka from Western Europe last year making the region one of the fastest evolving source markets for us. What is of concern, however, is a slight 2% drop in German arrivals, which we hope to reverse with our participation at ITB Berlin this year. Altogether, 130,000 Germans visited Sri Lanka in 2017. How is infrastructure being developed to cater for tourism growth? Tourism in Sri Lanka is evolving at a steady pace with continuous infrastructure development and the addition of thousands of new star class rooms across the country, especially in the commercial capital Colombo in order to keep up with the demand. I n f r a s t r u c t u r e development is an ongoing process. Some of the current projects include the creation of a brand new city from land reclaimed from the seas adjacent to the Colombo harbour. This new city will feature stateof-the-art hotels, shopping malls, theme parks, marinas and the very latest infrastructure for multisensory entertainment. In addition to the already completed highways connecting the international airport to Colombo and the south, development of other major highways connecting Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna with every corner of the island has already started and will be completed before 2020.. What new products are being presented at ITB? Today Sri Lanka is a safe haven for tourists. We have a rich heritage depicted through eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a food culture based on exotic spices, one of world’s oldest healing methods, Ayurveda, diverse wildlife, golden beaches and many adventure activities. Sri Lanka is world famous for its sun, sea and sand. This is a well-established product especially in the European market. In the last few years we have seen world class hotel chains build luxury hotels and resorts on the beaches catering to the upper segment of travellers who seek the sun, sea and sand. We have so many other products which offer a wide choice for the tourists. To name a few we have adventure tourism, sports tourism, health and wellness tourism based on the ancient indigenous Ayurveda system, wildlife Sri Lanka Unveils Strategic Plan to Boost Tourism With a four-fold increase in arrivals since 2010, tourism is set to bcome Sri Lanka’s largest foreign exchange earner and event based tourism. ITB is a good platform to take this message to the world TODAY SRI LANKA IS A SAFE HAVEN FOR TOURISTS. ITB BERLIN NEWS • Thursday 8 th March 2018
