France bounce back for Entire

ENTIRE Travel Group (ETG) held a soiree at Palais, Luna Park, in Sydney last night for travel agents, offering a platform for suppliers and destination representatives to update frontline sellers on the latest news, developments and activities in locations the company’s brands specialise in.

Those brands include French Travel Connection, Tahiti Travel Connection, New Caledonia Travel Connection, Spain and Portugal Connection and Barge Travel Connection.

The event featured presentations from the likes of Tahiti Tourisme, Air Tahiti Nui, New Caledonia Tourism, Aircalin, Atout France & Monaco Tourism, along with updates from International Rail & DriveAway Holidays, and gave agents a chance to meet ETG staff.

ETG managing director Brad McDonnell took over French Travel Connection 11 years ago, and says the expansion of the business into other regions of the world had been a success, especially in recent times following terror attacks in France.

“Diversification has been really good for us and we’ve had a lot of success in destinations that we also offer through Spain and Portugal, Tahiti and most recent baby, New Caledonia,” he said.

McDonnell admitted business for French Travel Connection had experienced “a difficult few years”, but said interest and bookings for France had turned the corner.

”I’m excited to say that this year we are seeing growth again in the destination which is really exciting,” McDonnell remarked.

The comment was backed by Atout France’s marketing & trade exec Sarah Elfassy who thanked agents for selling France, saying “it has paid off - France is back”.

In 2017, France was the number one tourist destination, welcoming over 89 million tourists, making it one of the only countries in the world that has more tourists than its own population, Elfassy commented.

Australia remains France’s 10th largest source market and there’s a growing interest in regional parts of the country, she added.

So what destination is McDonnell and Entire Travel Group looking at expanding its portfolio to next?

“I never say never, so watch this space,” McDonnell quipped.

Pictured flanking McDonnell are Alison Roberts-Brown from Monaco Govt Tourist Office and Patrick Benhamou, Atout France.