Do tourist offices work today as they did yesterday?
Bruno Moerman - No. We are much more proactive. Before, our job was mainly to respond to spontaneous requests for information. Over the years, we have become increasingly involved in promoting our respective destinations in an increasingly competitive market. We have considerably strengthened our relations with the press as well as our work with travel professionals, even though, particularly for countries bordering France, individual customers remain important.
Today, a large part of our work consists of canvassing market operators and promoting our destinations through workshops, particularly in the field of business tourism.
Has business tourism taken off in recent years?
B. M. - It's obvious. Twenty years ago, fifteen years ago even, there was very little talk of business tourism. Today, many tourist offices have developed a convention bureau and send a delegate dedicated to business tourism to their representative office in France. This is true for countries that have traditionally specialised in this sector, such as Germany, the Netherlands or the Scandinavian countries. But it's even more obvious in the case of new destinations, notably the countries of Central Europe, which immediately saw the advantage of establishing themselves as a priority in the MICE market. Look at Croatia, which quickly moved into the top end of the market, or Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which have considerably expanded their hotel stock.
And outside Europe?
B. M. - The Maghreb countries have also realised that business tourism is a better niche than traditional beach tourism, as have destinations such as Dubai and Oman, which have deliberately positioned themselves in the MICE market. For 'traditional' destinations, particularly in Western Europe, the situation is a little more complex: in the major cities, there is already a very large number of hotels, and the need to fill rooms at weekends means that we are continuing to pay a great deal of attention to leisure tourism.
Do you see any other destinations entering the French market in the near future?
B. M. - I believe that South America will develop over the next few years. The Argentinean and Brazilian offices will soon be joining Adonet. There is still room here for new destinations because the French market is still very open: the rate of people going abroad is still much lower than in the Benelux countries or Great Britain, for example. But it's not always easy to promote our destinations here, particularly in the business tourism sector. I'm always surprised that France doesn't have a major international trade show dedicated to business tourism.
In this sector, we are still obliged to promote our destinations at major trade shows abroad, such as EIBTM in Barcelona. This is regrettable.
Bio express
1948: Born in Brussels.
1970: Manager at the Belgian Tourist Office in Paris.
1977: Promotion officer for TO Sunair.
1979: Regional Director of the Belgian Tourist Office in Strasbourg.
Since 1986: General Manager of the Belgian Tourist Office in Paris, then of the Wallonia-Brussels Tourist Office.
1994: Chairman of Adonet and the World Tourism Fair.
