Trouble in Paradise: Experts’ opinions on the current touristic situation in French Polynesia Céline Perelli A thesis submitted to: Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in International Hospitality Management 2013 School of Hospitality and Tourism Supervisors: Dr. Hamish Bremner and Dr. David Williamson i Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………..1 1.0 Research context…………………………………………………………….2 Chapter Two: French Polynesia-The myth unraveled…………………………………9 2.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………...10 2.1 The discovery of Paradise and its colonization…………………………….10 2.2 Tahiti and her islands………………………………………………………13 2.3 Social, cultural and economic background of French Polynesia…………..20 2.3.1 Population………………………………………………………….20 2.3.2 Employment, income and tourism…………………………………21 2.3.3 French financial support…………………………………………...22 2.4 The French government……………………………………………………23 2.5 Tourism and its wastelands………………………………………………...25 Chapter Three: Literature review…………………………………………………….30 3.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………...31 3.1 Destination competitiveness theory………………………………………..31 3.2 Tourism marketing mix…………………………………………………….35 3.3 Strategic planning………………………………………………………….37 3.4 Strategic implementation…………………………………………………..38 3.5 The C.O.S.T strategic plan (Conseil d’Orientation Stratégique du Tourisme)…………………………………………………………………………….40 3.6 The implementation of the C.O.S.T strategic plan………………………...44 Chapter Four: Methodology………………………………………………………….46 4.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………...47 4.1 Research methodology……………………………………………………..47 4.2 Data Source………………………………………………………………...50 4.3 Semi-structured interviews………………………………………………...50 ii 4.4 Data analysis……………………………………………………………….52 4.5 Participant characteristics……………………………………………….....53 Chapter Five: Findings and discussion……………………………………………….56 5.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………...57 5.1 French Polynesia: why it is a unique destination…………………………..57 5.2 Application of the 7P’s model to tourism in French Polynesia……………65 5.3 Politics……………………………………………………………………..85 Chapter Six: Conclusion……………………………………………………………...91 References……………………………………………………………………………97 Appendices………………………………………………………………………….109 Table of Tables: Table 1: Number of visitor arrivals for 2007 and 2011………………………………..5 Table 2: Hotels closures in French Polynesia since 2003……………………………..6 Table 3 French Polynesia population census 2007-2012…………………………….20 Table 4: Budget per department of French Polynesia………………………………..22 Table 5: Research participants’ characteristics………………………………………54 Table 6: B&B rates in Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Bora Bora and Fakarava………….71 Table 7: Rate comparison of over-water bungalows at Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts………………………………………………………………………………..74 Table of Maps: Map 1– World map…………………………………………………………………..14 Map 2 – Tahiti and her islands……………………………………………………….15 Table of Images: Image 1– Lagoon of Bora Bora………………………………………………………16 Image 2 – Mountain view from Rurutu………………………………………………16 Image 3– Pearl farm in Mangareva…………………………………………………..17 Image 4 – Cliffs-Marquesas islands………………………………………………….18 iii Image 5– Pink sand beach in Tikehau………………………………………………..19 Image 6 – Club Med Moorea- event center before the fire and after………………...27 Image 7– Club Med Moorea-road entrance………………………………………….27 Image 8 – Cook’s Bay hotel left, Moorea Village right……………………………...28 Table of Figures: Figure 1– Multidimensional strenghts of a tourism destination……………………33 Table of Appendices: Appendix 1: Hawai’i statistics from 2007-2011……………………………………109 Appendix 2: Fiji statistics from 2007-2011………………………………………...109 Appendix 3: French Polynesia statistics from 2007-2012………………………….110 Appendix 4: Cook islands tourists arrivals…………………………………………110 Appendix 5: Tonga tourists arrivals………………………………………………...112 Appendix 6: Samoa tourists arrivals………………………………………………..112 Appendix 7: Participant invitation in English………………………………………113 Appendix 8: Participant invitation in French……………………………………….113 Appendix 9: Participant information sheet in English……………………………...114 Appendix 10: Participant information sheet in French……………………………..117 Appendix 11: Consent form………………………………………………………...120 Appendix 12: Interview questions in English………………………………………122 Appendix 13: Interview questions in French……………………………………….123 Appendix 14: Tahiti vacation front page brochure…………………………………124 Appendix 15: Tourists’ satisfaction card…………………………………………...126 Appendix 16: Event calendar……………………………………………………….130 iv Attestation of Authorship “I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning.” Signed: _____________________________________________ Céline Perelli November 2014 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the following people who have helped and supported me throughout this project: My supervisors Hamish and David, for their guidance and motivation throughout this learning experience. I could not have imagined having better supervisors. The hospitality and tourism professionals who agreed to participate in this research project and dedicated their time to help me. My father and grandmother without whom this would have been impossible. Thank you for believing in me. My best friend Céline for her constant support and motivation. You were always a great support in my struggles and frustrations in my life and studies. I could not have done it without you. My awesome friends at work: Alem, Chaeha, Harry for listening to my constant drama over and over again. I know my temper is challenging at times, thanks for being here! Rafael, for being easy going and understanding throughout my Master’s degree. You could not have supported me better. To all of you, the simple words “thank you” cannot represent how much your support, friendship and love means to me. I dedicate this thesis to my father. vi ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the main contributors to the decline in tourist numbers in French Polynesia as seen by tourism and hospitality professionals. Tourism being the main source of revenue for the French territory, a serious analysis of the current situation needs to be undertaken in order to analyse the potential contributors to that drastic decline. Opinions of hospitality and tourism experts are the foundation of this thesis. It is believed that they know better than anyone else what is the reason or reasons why tourism is doing poorly since the past seven years as they are dealing on daily basis with tourists and other tourism and hospitality organisations. The research uses a literature review based on the theory of destination competitiveness, tourism marketing mix and tourism strategic planning. Semi- structured interviews are used to interview the participants that agreed to take part in the research. Points of discussions are used to guide the interview between the researcher and the interviewee, which leaves room for other potential points of interests raised by the participants. The results show that the provision of air servicing seems to be the main problem within the tourism industry in French Polynesia. According to the participants, it is the main issue that needs to be addressed before anything else. Other issues identified include the poor level of advertising in the main markets, the lack of training for hospitality and tourism employees and the incongruity between price and product to name a few. The small sample size of participants may appear to be an issue, however the participants chosen have been working in the industry for more than ten years and are experts in their fields. Opinions ranging from the Assistant to the Minister of Tourism to five-star hotel managers to travel agency managing directors are presented, which reflects the high level of expertise of the participants. Their opinions are supported by the strategic plan presented in 2010 by the Ministry of Tourism of French Polynesia known as the C.O.S.T. Online travel forums such as the Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor have also been used to support ideas presented in this thesis. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.0 Research context Tahiti and her islands are seen as paradise for many tourists. Images of tropical beaches, cocktails and bungalows come to mind when mentioning the exotic destination. However, growth trends in tourist arrivals portray a diametrically opposite image. According to the Institute of Statistics of French Polynesia (2012), the number of tourist arrivals has dramatically decreased since 2007. A closer look at the market segmentation arrivals reveals the following: Since 2007, tourists arriving to Tahiti from: Africa dropped by 18.8%. Central America dropped by 46.8%. North America dropped by 48.2%. South America dropped by 47.2%. Asia dropped by 33.9%. Europe (excluding France) dropped by 32.2%. France dropped by 45.9%. Pacific dropped by 49.3%. Middle East dropped by 41.4%. Overall, tourist arrivals to the French territory dropped by 42.9% between 2007 and 2012. These are concerning figures. The world economic crisis hit in 2007; however is the drop in tourist numbers solely due to the economic crisis? Tourist arrivals to Fiji have therefore been analysed and compared to