Tahiti time: why these islands are keen to avoid mass tourism
Chasing visitor numbers can be a cyclical trap of reliance and, at its worst, lead to overtourism – but for some destinations, now is the right time to break that model and focus on fewer, more engaged, longer-stay arrivals, especially if you look like paradise and want to preserve it.
Imagine if a destination covered an area the size of western Europe, yet only achieved visitor stats of 300,000 a year? You’d wonder what was wrong with the place, right? Or if you were in charge, sack the marketing agency? Venice gets that number of visitors in just a couple of days.
But how refreshing is it to talk to someone who doesn’t want to grow tourism? I know that might also sound weird though, after what the global tourism industry has been through, especially if your destination has waters like you’ve never seen, fascinating culture and history, and overwater villas to watch the sunset from. Surely uou’d want as many people as possible to see it?
Much like paradisiacal counterpart and overwater-villa cousin the Maldives, much of this destination’s glorious territory is also water, yet it gets only around a quarter of the Maldives’ arrivals.
Welcome to The Islands of Tahiti, or French Polynesia: let’s call it simply Tahiti from here on in.
Unlike the powers that be over in the Indian Ocean, those in Tahiti are not hell-bent on numbers and building ever more resorts on remote islands. (Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to the Maldives more times than any one human deserves. And those resorts are lovely, but it can sometimes feels as if development is unchecked).
Instead, Tahiti is looking to promote slower tourism, longer stays and travel that integrates as much of the local experience into the trip as possible – and yes, to “cap” that arrival figure at 300,000, once things really get going again. Maybe more by inference and specific segment marketing targets, rather than turning back whoever ends up being passenger number 300,001 (PLEASE let me be 299,999)?
“In 2019, we had the highest number of tourists we’ve ever had,” Jean-Marc Mocellin, chief executive of destination management organisation Tahiti Tourisme, tells me on a recent visit to Europe. “Now we realise that is enough for us. We would rather focus on maintaining that level, rather than exceeding it, over the next five years.”
He says pushing the concept of slow tourism, with people experiencing “longer, deeper stays” that are much more inclusive of locals and interactions with them – and ultimately generating more revenue – always with an eye on sustainability will be key. Encouraging more understanding and appreciation of Polynesian life is also paramount, he says.
“It’s about quality not quantity,” he adds. “Europeans tend to stay two weeks, which is ideal – and we’d love them to stay longer, of course; Americans only tend to stay around four nights at the moment. We don’t really have the space anyway for many more tourists – our hotel capacity is naturally limited at the moment. While we would like to see some new hotels encouraged to open in other less-densely populated islands, we would rather focus on building a network of smaller hotels.”
Jewel of the Pacific
Scattered across the Pacific Ocean, French Polynesia is a “pays d’outre-mer au sein de la Republique”, or “an overseas country within the republic of France”, but has a high degree of autonomy. There are 118 gorgeous islands organised in five main groups – the Society Islands, the Tuamotu archipelago, the Gambier Islands, the Marquesas Islands and the Tubuai Islands – and Tahiti is the most densely-populated island.
The destination has not remained closed all this time – French and US tourists certainly continued to visit following a July 2020 reopening. “We were one of the first places to introduce an online visitor location form,” Mocellin tells me. “We were also quick to install a free test-on-arrival system.”
Around 70% of the population is vaccinated, and the destination feels like a safe option, one where caution remains: all travellers must complete the online ETIS form and provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test (within 72 hours before boarding), while a test is also still carried out upon arrival.
Meanwhile, a law passed in August this year means all those whose job involves meeting the public in tourism must be vaccinated, which provides further reassurance.
Recent days have also seen the roll-out of a new Safety Ambassador programme to push the protection element around Covid-19, with guidelines around correct protocols for companies to sign up to.
These include now commonplace initiatives such as requiring cruise passengers to be vaccinated and tested before boarding; allowing staff to isolate if symptoms are manifested; having test kits readily available for customers and staff; practising social distancing; wearing masks in enclosed public spaces; reinforcing sanitisation protocols; and having sanitisation products for sale in shops at hotels.
“Agents and operators can search the list to see who is signed up to add even more reassurance,” Mocellin tells me. “There are also videos that help explain what’s in place.”
Tourism lifeline
During the pandemic, there has been no direct support from France (unlike the country’s Overseas Territories) – that had to come from local government. Up to 2019, there had been successful years to help pad the coffers, but after two years of the pandemic, the economy needs external stimulation. “The president says we cannot close the islands any more,” Mocellin says.
Around 12,000 people are directly employed by tourism, but of course the additional numbers feeding into the sector make it far more crucial, from agriculture, to the pearl and vanilla industries.
“It made a lot more people realise how important tourism is to the economy, but of course also how reliant we are – when that is no longer there, you have to look at how you can diversify,” Mocellin adds.
But that realisation will also be a positive thing – in the sense that locals will feel much more like stakeholders in the wider success of tourism as it returns and rebuilds. At the same time, having more people “on board” with the value tourism brings goes hand in glove with the philosophy of helping spread that wider by ensuring travellers have more and more access to authentic experiences.
As Mocellin says, Tahiti has “a legendary sense of welcome, people love sharing the islands”. But equally, he adds locals are also pragmatic about tourism: “They say ‘if tourism starts to affect our daily lives in any negative ways, we do not want it’.”
A reasonable number of highly engaged travellers hopefully equals a better overall experience for all then – longer stays and higher propensity to return, plus happier locals. It’s a model many destinations will (and should?) be analysing “post-pandemic”. Whenever that might be. It’s now, isn’t it? Yet also forever more.
Luxury perfection
And if luxury means exclusivity, rarity and beauty – then the prize goes to Tahiti, French Polynesia, whatever you prefer to call it. French flavoured, but not quite French. Home to the legendary Bora Bora and resorts such as The Brando, developed as a sustainable private-island resort by Marlon Brando on Tetiaroa, which he called “beautiful beyond my capacity to describe”.
Tahiti is beloved by Americans, from where it’s slightly easier to get to than for us (around nine hours from LA). But should more Brits be going there? More than the 4,000 a year enjoyed it in 2019. Probably: only 200 lucky ones among us made it there last year, for pretty obvious reasons.
Tahiti sees the value in this source market, as it does France, of course, and the wider European landscape, and Tahiti Tourisme included the UK on a trade mission last week. Local partners, DMCs and hotels made their way over oceans and land to be here, and met with agents and operators about the destination’s potential.
The new Tahiti Specialist Programme is ready and waiting, and agents can log sales to possibly be one of the lucky 300,000 themselves one day. There will be monthly webinars starting in March, and the wider Reconnect With The World campaign is rolling out now.
Even with its accepted goals in mind, tourism still needs promoting and, to that end, a number of other initiatives are in play.
“Tahiti is definitely ready to roll out the red carpet, the gold carpet – the green carpet!” he says. “We are open, and we want the trade to know this.”
“Our distant location used to be a bit of a handicap, but now it’s our advantage,” he says. “We’re the perfect destination: people can connect with nature, and know they are in a safe environment. Accommodation is often in standalone bungalows, most activities are outdoors, and we have sanitary protocols in place.”
He adds that the islands are also leading the way in sustainability.
“We already have three hotels that use a seawater air-conditioning system, as well as the main hospital,” he explains. “This draws up freezing water from beyond the reefs pumping it up to refrigerate air conditioning. We know we need to be more self-sustainable overall. And the younger generations of locals now are even more tuned in to issues such as reef conservation.”
Many of us have waxed lyrical about how luxury travellers would be seeking remote, idyllic options with plenty of space and privacy. In which case, hello Tahiti! It may be far, far away, but seems like it would be worth the effort.
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