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Baguettes and Bougainvillea
By By Maggie Rauch
June 1, 2006
The islands and atolls of what is now called French Polynesia have a reputation for being hard to reach. After discovering and invading some of the islands in the 16th century, the Spanish Conquistadors found them difficult to navigate and instead focused their attention on the more compact Philippines. It would be two hundred years before a European explorer finally mapped the region.
French Polynesia is no longer so difficult to reach, especially since Air Tahiti Nui added direct service from New York last year. "People are starting to think of it more like Hawaii in terms of accessibility," says Kim Marshall, who does public relations for Starwood's French Polynesian properties. The trip takes 12 hours from New York, and 7.5 hours from Los Angeles, on Air Tahiti Nui, United Airlines, Air France and Air New Zealand. But even on today's shrinking globe, the tiny islands of French Polynesia occupy a rarefied place on travelers' wish lists.
(article continued below)"We plan trips all over the world, and French Polynesia is one of our two favorite places," says Nikki Nestor, president of World Class Travel by Invitation, in Carlsbad, Calif. "We have cycled all of our clients through."
Papeete: The GatewayWhen Nestor urged Ed Trimble to bring his company's annual incentive trip to Tahiti in 2005, he had some reservations. "I was worried it would be too quiet, and people who weren't into water activities would be bored," says Trimble, president and chief operating officer of KFMB, which operates CBS-affiliate radio and television stations in San Diego. A site inspection helped win him over, and Trimble brought 120 clients and salespeople on a weeklong trip last September.
The group spent the first three nights in Papeete at InterContinental Resort Tahiti; that leg included an optional day trip to the island of Moorea, the "Garden Island." Papeete is the capital of Tahiti, a hub for travelers bound for Tahiti or beyond. In addition to adventure options like scuba diving and 4x4 driving excursions, Trimble's group enjoyed shopping and golf. This also is where any museum buffs in your group can get their fix, visiting the Paul Gauguin Museum (art), the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands (history) or the Black Pearl Museum.
Papeete has a number of world-class hotels, such as the Sheraton Hotel Tahiti, which recently completed a $10 million renovation that involved creating a white-sand beach, refurbishing the Mandara Spa and equipping the entire hotel with wireless Internet access.
On their second night in Papeete, the KFMB group enjoyed a private performance by Les Grands Ballets de Tahiti, an internationally acclaimed troupe that, despite its name, does traditional Tahitian dance. The exclusive performance included a buffet and cost about as much as dinner at a fine restaurant in a European capital, Nestor says.
Bora Bora: Nature's AquariumThe group then flew to Bora Bora, where it took over the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, an Orient-Express property, for four nights. The opportunity to do a buyout of the resort, and of the dance performance in Papeete, was key to his program's success, Trimble says: "We leveraged some economies of scale and people really got to relax and be themselves."
The trip's highlight was a staging of an
Amazing Race competition, modeled after the CBS reality show of the same name. The teambuilding exercise allowed attendees to explore the island and get to know one another.
"We had ten teams and eight stages," Trimble says. "Each stage gave them a beautiful view of the island, and some new knowledge of Tahitian culture, whether it was rowing a kayak, making a lei or opening up a coconut."
The KFMB incentive will go to Russia next year, but if Trimble ever decides to take the group back to Bora Bora, he will have two new luxury hotel options. The St. Regis Resort Bora Bora opens this month, with 100 over-water and beach villas. The villas range in size from 1,550 square feet up to 13,000, and each has a private outdoor shower. Five rooms will have pools suspended over the lagoon. The resort also will feature a glass-bottom, over-water restaurant, and two secluded villas with a private helicopter pad. Other highlights of the resort include three restaurants, a 13,000-square-foot spa and three different types of fishing, including ocean fly fishing.
In May, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts continued its growth in the region by opening the InterContinental Resort and Thalasso-Spa Bora Bora. The property has 80 over-water villas, which are a minimum of 1,000 square feet each. Its spa opens in September. Four of the 12 treatment rooms are situated over water, with glass floors. All of the treatments use water from deep in the ocean.
The resort will also use ocean water in its air-conditioning system, in place of chlorofluorocarbons, reducing electricity use and chemical waste. After cooling the resort, the still-clean water is pumped back into the ocean. It's part of the InterContinental's efforts to be environmentally friendly, preserving the natural beauty that is Bora Bora's main attraction. The clear blue lagoon that circles the island creates a marine sanctuary, protecting smaller species from predator fish.
"It's the best unknown island in French Polynesia," says Marsha Morton, North American sales and marketing manager for the InterContinental hotels in French Polynesia. "It's the 'wow' island, because of the lagoon and the incredible-looking mountains."
Cruise NewsWith so many different places to visit in French Polynesia, many incentive groups elect to tour the region by boat.
"Cruising gives you a wonderful overview of the special dynamics of each island," says Nikki Nestor, director of World Class Travel by Invitation, in Carlsbad, Calif. "On Moorea it's all about the island; on Bora Bora, it's the lagoon; Tahaa is the ultimate getaway, off the beaten path."
Celebrity Cruises hopes that other incentive providers will agree. The Miami-based company recently announced its first itineraries in the area, with 16- and 14-night sailings on the Mercury, beginning in fall of 2007. The Mercury will sail between Auckland, New Zealand; and Sydney, Australia; its 16-night Hawaii-New Zealand itinerary will stop at two Hawaiian islands as well as Papeete, Moorea and Bora Bora. At the same time it is developing these new routes, Celebrity is pursuing groups more actively and adding dedicated staff for the incentives and meetings market.
"It's not a coincidence," says Celebrity sales vice president Dondra Ritzenthaler, of the announcement of these new itineraries and a bigger focus on corporate business. "We are using these routes to attract the really high-end incentives."
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