French Polynesia has managed to find a number of tourists this year comparable to the years preceding the Covid crisis, according to government forecasts communicated to AFP.
More than 200,000 tourists should have visited Polynesia by the end of the year, specifies the same source.
Dave Hetzel, an American who came from Seattle to go sailing, ends his trip in the huge swimming pool crushed by the heat of the Sheraton in Tahiti.
“Everything is superb, from the landscapes to the seabed through the restaurants, but the best thing is the reception of the population”
, he summarizes while his companion spreads cream on him, nodding his head.
"We travel often, but it's the most beautiful place we've ever seen
," exclaim heartily Matthew and Amelia Mackin, a Canadian couple on their honeymoon, who have just returned to Tahiti after a week in Bora Bora.
Read the file FRENCH POLYNESIA: THE FIGARO TRAVEL GUIDE
In this overseas community where tourism represents 85% of own resources, the number of visitors had been divided by three in 2020 and 2021, due to the closure of borders, then to the epidemic itself.
The Delta wave of Covid-19 had caused the death of more than 500 people in August-September 2021, for a population of 280,000 inhabitants.
“We are a refuge destination”
It was not expected that Polynesia would reach the record number of 236,000 tourists this year, obtained in 2019. But it will approach, or even exceed, the influx of previous years.
And this progression should continue next year.
"We want to reach a sustainable threshold of 280,000 tourists in 2027, i.e. an increase of almost 10% annually
," French Polynesia President Edouard Fritch, also in charge of the ministerial portfolio for Tourism, told AFP.
The government wants to reach this number of visitors, but not exceed it, in order to avoid mass tourism.
“During the pandemic, isolation was a constraint, it is now a strength”
, confirms the marketing director of Tahiti Tourisme, Vaihere Lissant.
"We are a refuge destination, to reconnect with loved ones and with oneself: it's
"slow"
tourism, you can take the time, travel less but longer
," she adds.
Professionals note changes in tourist behavior since the crisis: they book their stay less in advance and stay a little longer.
More than 17 days on average for a trip to Polynesia, compared to 15 before the pandemic.
Saturation awaits
“We had a bad first quarter, but then 2022 is the best year for us and, barring an accident in our buoyant markets, 2023 will still be a record year”
, rejoices for his part Thierry Brovelli, director of the luxurious Intercontinental Tahiti and co-president the Council of Hospitality Professionals, which includes 28 hotels and more than 2,000 rooms.
He welcomes the arrival this weekend of a first Delta Airlines flight.
After Air Tahiti Nui, Air France, United Airlines and the low-cost French Bee, it will be the fifth airline to serve Polynesia from the United States.
Hoteliers no longer complain about the lack of seats on planes.
Air carriers, on the other hand, regret the lack of rooms.
Several hotels in Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea have closed during the pandemic.
In 2020, Polynesia lost 900 rooms out of the 5,376 it offered the previous year.
Some hotels will reopen, but not all: saturation awaits.
Hoteliers want the government to facilitate the construction of new buildings through double tax exemption, local and national, which makes it possible to finance up to 60% of construction costs.
The government's objective is to reach 6,600 keys by 2027.
French Polynesia remains a destination dominated by 4 and 5 star hotels, but family pensions are a growing offer.
Cruise tourism, meanwhile, reaches nearly 1,000 annual stopovers in the Polynesian islands, for 33,000 visitors.
