24 REGION OCEANIA
24 REGION OCEANIA Adventure or Romance with a French Touch New Caledonia reports 10% growth in inbound tourists from European regions in 2013 Michel Monvoisin President Tourism Board of Tahiti Tourism (and CEO of Air Tahiti Nui) New Luxury Resort at Heart of Tahiti’s Promotional Activity at ITB Berlin After ten years of intensified marketing, New Caledonia continues on its mission to attract more European tourists to the paradise destination. According to Jean-Michel Foutrein, director of the New Caledonia tourism bureau, inbound tourism is evolving in a positive way: “New Caledonia is a very diversified destination with many exceptional features for a demanding clientele,” says Mr Foutrein. “Australians and New Zealanders are mostly interested in the French Gourmet cuisine and unique combination of French and Melanesian cultures, Italians are seeking for the most romantic honeymoon spot with white sandy beaches and turquoise lagoon, French visitors are very active on the islands and Germans are big explorers, enjoying the awesome landscapes, the untouched nature and of course water activities such as sailing and diving.” NEW RESORTS OPENING According to Mr Foutrein, tourism is developing in a “sustainable way” in this Pacific archipelago, with two major new openings. Hilton Nouméa La Promenade Résidences opened last November and the Sheraton New Caledonia Deva Resort and Spa, integrated in a nature reserve will open mid 2014. The hotel comes with 180 guest rooms, suites and private bungalows and will be located about 90 minutes from the international airport Tontouta, between the turquoise water and green tropical gardens. There will be Hall 5.2 A Stand 102 a wide range of sports and cultural activities that will be integrated step by step in the natural and cultural surrounding of the resort. Guests can enjoy some water sports activities like snorkeling, kayak, stand-up paddling or diving and there are some great routes for wanderers and hikers. The resort looks out over the UNESCO World Heritage lagoon and reefs with a land area of 8,000 hectares. Looks strange ... make bigger maybe The tourism bureau of New Caledonia is planning a fam trip for travel agents and product managers again this year. “Experiencing a destination, getting to know the products is the best way to sell it”, says Mr Foutrein. “Together with our airline Aircalin and different hotel partners, we will welcome these guests to discover the secluded archipelago of New Caledonia.” ITB Berlin will again this year be a very important showroom for the destination, says Mr Foutrein. “It gives is the opportunity to be seen on the B2B market and reach most of the European buyers. We started to actively promote New Caledonia in the German speaking markets less than ten years ago and we are proud to say that the figures are growing. For 2013 we registered an increase in visitors of 10%.” In recent times, since taking the helm of Air Tahiti Nui as well as the Presidency of GIE Tahiti Tourism, Michel Monvoisin has been credited with turning business around for the better. While inbound figures from Europe have been relatively flat for 2013, healthy growth is forecast for 2014 (i.e. 8% for Germany). We asked Mr Monvoisin to tell us more about what trade professionals can find at his destination’s stand… We will highlight the new luxury eco resort “The Brando”. It will open in 2014 and is a unique luxury property on French Polynesia’s breathtakingly beautiful atoll of Tetiaroa. Tetiaroa is composed of 12 small islands surrounding a spectacular three-mile wide lagoon. The entire atoll is encircled by a vibrant coral reef that abounds with sea life. Access to the island is by private plane. The 20-minute plane flight from Tahiti provides an awe-inspiring introduction to the island. Marlon Brando fell in love with Tetiaroa when filming Mutiny on the Bounty, and it was his retreat for over three decades. The Brando resort was inspired by Marlon Brando’s original vision to create a venture of sustainable development that resonates with visitors and fosters opportunities to get to know both the place and people of French Polynesia. Do you have any new promotional activities that are being announced at ITB Berlin? Our new and highly appreciated Travel Planer will come out in April and can be ordered at the Tahiti Tourism German office. We will participate in the Dertour Roadshow and will offer participation at “tiaré “ travel agents program and conduct a tiaré agent fam trip end of 2014. How important is ITB Berlin as part of your global marketing plan? ITB Berlin is an integral component of our promotion activities and an ideal platform for our private sector representatives to meet with all important business partners. [WE WILL] CONDUCT A TIARÉ AGENT FAM TRIP END OF 2014 Hall 5.2 A Stand 105 ITB BERLIN NEWS • Friday 28 th February 2014 www.itb-berlin-news.com
EDUCATION / EMPLOYMENT SPECIAL FEATURE 25 Developing Future Talent When great minds are endowed with the right education, the future is assured With fast growing hotel markets in some parts of the world, the question is whether the supply of talent can keep up with the demand. We asked André Witschi, President of the legendary Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne to give us an overview of the current scenario for hotel management training the way he sees it… André Witschi President of the Board of Governors - Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in Lausanne, Switzerland A LARGE NUMBER OF THE “MEILLEURS OUVRIERS DE FRANCE” ARE TEACHING AT EHL. At the end of the day, the market needs young people who are able to manage the business and to fill their career within this industry. But you have to be very careful when you talk about hotel schools because you have establishments of all levels and it has become “just a business” for some schools, which is not good for the young people because education must be very serious. Those who suffer in those cases are the students, because they may get a nice diploma, but no content. What is needed - and I think therefore the Europeans are very strong in this sense – is an excellent balance between vocational training and academic education. What’s changing in the actual wants or demands of hotel groups and owners when it comes to finding the right recruits for their hotels today? What kind of people are they looking for and what kind of qualifications do they need? If you want to be a good leader in this industry, you must know what your people do, because at the very end, it’s a twocolumn business. One is the real estate and the other one is the task field, where you must make a difference if you want to be successful in this industry. You can build nice hotels very easily, but to build a good team, you need people who have the competence in all these fields or people who are able to lead the teams in these hotels. Is it harder or easier to run a hotel today than it was, say 10 or 20 years ago? It’s difficult to say. Today, things are on the one hand more transparent and at the same time more complex. You know, looking back when I was young, working in the front office, we had different rates for the Asian market, for the US market, for South America, or for other countries, because we had a link into these markets and there was very little flow of information between them. Today, you can forget that, because everything is very transparent and all the OTAs and other ways of distribution make life more complicated. If you go back to the daily business in a hotel, then I wouldn’t say that there is a big, big difference. There is just normal technical evolution, but nevertheless the job is still to welcome people and to satisfy their needs. You moved into your new role at EHL early 2012. What’s new at the school since then? I follow the path of my predecessor Marco Torriani and our founder Jacques Tschumi. We continue to enlarge with high competencies the faculty in order to respond to the growth of our students, at this time a little over 2400. Indeed a large number of the “Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” are teaching at EHL. We have re-launched the international advisory board for the school in which a number of the leaders from worldwide top hotels and hotel groups are able to gather together to discuss what is needed in the industry for the future. EHL Remains the Reference According to a TNS Sofres survey conducted in summer 2013 among 232 managers and recruiters from the hotel world, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne remains the benchmark school for hotel management training. The winners’ rostrum is made up solely of Swiss institutions since in second place, behind EHL we find the Glion Institut des Hautes Etudes, while Les Roches comes third. The respondents had to choose from a list of 86 reputed institutions the school which they considered to be among the best in the world in terms of recruitment of graduates for an international career in the hotel industry. Top 10 International Hospitality Management Schools in the World for an International Career in Luxury Hotels. Based on frequency of school selection by luxury hotel managers. Sample Size: 2323 respondents % of Respondents Institution Country that Ranked School in Top 10 Worldwide 1 Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne Switzerland 67% 2 Glion Institut of Higher Eduction, Glion & Bulle Switzerland 61% 3 Les Roches, International School of Hotel Management, Bluche Switzerland 59% 4 Cornell University USA 53% 5 Hotel School The Hague Netherlands 40% 6 Les Roches, International School of Hotel Management, Marbella Spain 28% 7 Oxford Brookes University United Kingdom 23% 8 Blue Mountain International Hotel Management School, Leura Australia 21% 9 Hotel School Vatel France 20% 10 César Ritz Colleges, Le Bouveret, Brig Switzerland 19% Source: TNS Sofres ITB BERLIN NEWS • Friday 28 th February 2014
