Adonet(Association des Offices Nationaux Etrangers de Tourisme en France) is a group of official tourist promotion agencies for the French market.
In 1954, this grouping became a non-profit association represented by 14 destinations.
Today, there are almost 60.
They are also the founding members of the Salon Mondial du Tourisme and the Plume d’Or awards, which take place during the Adonet Media meetings.
We interviewed Jean-Pierre Pinheiro, President of Adonet , and Karin Mallet Gautier, Vice-President , to understand their vision of tourism today.
Find their answers to our questions below.
Can you introduce yourself and your role at Adonet?
Jean-Pierre: Hello everyone, I’m Jean-Pierre Pinheiro, President of Adonet, the Association des Offices Nationaux Étrangers de Tourisme en France.
I’m joined today by Karin Mallet.
Karin : Hello, I’m Vice-President of Adonet.
With Jean Pierre, we’re part of a 5-person board that presides over this association that’s been around for dozens and dozens of years.
It’s almost an old lady, isn’t it Jean-Pierre?
Jean-Pierre: It’s true that we’ve been working on the French market for several years now.
Last year, we celebrated the 60th edition of the Plume d’Or, the tourism press prize.
What is Adonet’s mission and objectives?
Jean-Pierre: It’s about federating and sharing.
Pooling, because as National Foreign Offices, we organize joint actions.
In particular, with the press, we organize annual Media Meetings, as well as the Plume d’Or awards.
This is a prize awarded to the press journalist who has done the most to promote one of our destinations, but it’s obviously also a “pretext” for networking and putting the press in touch with our 60 destinations.
Karin: The aim of the association, which currently has 58 members, is of course to federate additional players who are increasingly present on the French market, so that together we can continue both our actions and at the same time speak out in defense of destinations present on the market and with professionals.
It’s extremely important for Tourist Offices to work closely with tourism professionals, whether producers or distributors, to help them program and sell our various destinations on a day-to-day basis.
Presentation of the Plume d’Or 2019/2020 :
The tourism sector has been going through a dark period since the start of the year. How are you supporting your members?
Karin: We must continue to be there for and support our members.
Within Adonet, several initiatives have been taken during these confinements.
And of course to prepare for the future.
Jean-Pierre: It’s very important for us to maintain contact between Adonet members.
We organize ZOOM meetings on a regular basis to discuss our issues and current events, and to understand what’s going on in other countries.
With Covid, we were able to see that there were stages when the borders reopened.
First, in a few European Union destinations, then outside the EU.
These meetings are also an opportunity to share ideas and suggestions for effective communication and promotion.
We can see how each of us handles the situation, and it’s always interesting to share our experiences, especially in these more delicate and difficult moments.
The 58 members of Adonet :
For example, we organized meetings with press representatives.
It was important to understand what the editorial teams expected from us today, when there are far fewer press trips.
We were able to record trends with these editorial teams, and it was interesting to gain a better understanding of the issues we would be tackling as soon as business resumed on a more normal footing.
There may also be another way of working with newsrooms and journalists post-Covid.
These are exchanges we’re organizing to help us move forward together.
What’s in store for Adonet in 2021?
Jean-Pierre: We’re going to have to work on the political side, i.e. check with our supervisory bodies what is planned for our various destinations.
And together with the political and production side, we’ll be able to provide concrete information to the distribution network and our customers.
What’s the best way to prepare for the tourism recovery scheduled for spring 2021?
Karin: After these plans for 2021, we’re now faced with the question of when this upturn in tourism will take place.
It’s certain that it will differ from country to country, whether short-, medium- or long-haul, the reopening of borders on both sides, the evolution of tests, etc… It will take time.
But it can also start right now, for example, for a country like the Bahamas, which has just reopened and whose air links will gradually resume from December onwards.
It’ll happen gradually.
For others, it could be as early as winter or spring.
What do you think Jean-Pierre?
Jean-Pierre: Yes, especially since we’ve noticed a real need for harmonized communication.
On the one hand, there are the Schengen Area destinations, and on the other, the others, which have been managed differently in relation to border reopening schedules.
But independently of that, if we start today on the basis of a forthcoming deconfinement (which we hope will be as soon as possible), we’ll have to agree on very clear communication.
Even if we are deconflicted tomorrow, we don’t know exactly which destinations will be able to receive us, to receive the French market.
Which destinations remain open, with or without a Covid test.
All this is not always very clear.
That’s why we’re in the midst of discussions with the EDV(Entreprises du Voyage) to work together on clearer, more harmonizedcommunicationbetween all our destinations, taking several things into account.
On the one hand, we need to facilitate political decisions through the privileged contacts we have with our governments, and then with the production and distribution side.
And that’s where Les EDV comes in, working together to obtain harmonized information between political messages and messages from professionals to customers.
Karin: Also, airports for tests, pre-tests and return tests to make this trip even easier.
Jean-Pierre: Exactly, we’ve spoken to ADP and Atout France, who have provided us with a few details.
In fact, in the next few days, compulsory antigen tests will be introduced in airports.
These rapid tests will be compulsory for all passengers arriving in France from a destination or source market outside the Schengen area.
What is your vision for the tourism industry in the months ahead?
Karin: Personally, I’d say it’s going to take place over several months, if not years.
But it’s certainly going to be a global and fairly significant transformation of our businesses, our ways of operating and our ways of reacting to the unexpected.
Nonetheless, we need to learn from these ordeals, so that we can continue to transform our businesses for the better, and attract more and more travellers to our various destinations.
The final word?
Jean-Pierre: It’s a word of hope and solidarity.
Tourism is essential for our destinations and our economies, but also from a societal point of view. As Karin said, tourism is also about meeting cultures and having real experiences on the ground in beautiful countries.
Solidarity, because we are thinking of all those who are going through difficult times.
We know that there are many professions directly or indirectly affected by tourism.
But we also know that we’ll soon be able to work together again.
Karin: My final wish is that this ordeal will leave us transformed, more than ever united, united, fighting, and never forgetting that the journey is certainly one of the only things with which we return even richer than when we left.
Richer for one, richer for ourselves and for the knowledge of the other.
And in these times, when there are so many problems of relations between peoples, within peoples and all the problems we can encounter: political or otherwise… Tourism helps us to move towards a better world by getting to know each other better.
We can’t wait to meet our members face-to-face as soon as possible, we can’t wait to meet our future travellers, we can’t wait to see more people at the trade fairs, we can’t wait for all kinds of things to happen, we can’t wait for this time to arrive!
Jean-Pierre: Absolutely, and I’m convinced that we’ll soon be able to get together and talk about the future and work in the right direction!
See you soon.
