The SPF40 Retail Travel Agent Event consisted of two components: a Destination Learning Series and the SPF40 Tradeshow.

Destination Learning Series:
Each participating Tourism Office conducted its own 25-minute Destination Learning Component where agents were trained on the destination and how to better sell the products that the destination has to offer.

SPF40 Tradeshow:
Immediately following the Destination Learning Components, the SPF40 Tradeshow reunited suppliers from all 8 destinations and gave the agents an opportunity to speak with each supplier one-on-one. While drinks and hors d’oeuvres were served, the agents and suppliers enjoyed a dance performance with different choreographies representing each South Pacific destination, sponsored by Air Pacific.

The SPF40 Tour Operator Event offered two elements for suppliers to train and network with Tour Operators. The first part of the event was allotted for product appointments between suppliers and Tour Operator product personnel; the second part of the event was a training component in which suppliers from all destinations trained the Tour Operator selling staff on their respective products, on a rotational basis. On the last evening, a Tahiti-sponsored Closing Dinner celebrated another successful SPF40.

Participants included 28 Tour Operators with 143 selling staff, 58 South Pacific suppliers, and over 300 retail travel agents.

Participating Tahitian Suppliers:

• Air Tahiti Nui
• Accor/Sofitel Hotels & Resorts
• Archipels Polynesia Cruises
• Bora Bora Cruises
• Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa
• Hotel Bora Bora
• InterContinental French Polynesia
• Le Meridien Hotels de Polynesie
• Le Maitai Hotels – Bora Bora & Fakarava
• Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises: Paul Gauguin
• Pearl Resorts & Spa
• Star Clippers
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts – French Polynesia
• Te Tiare Beach Resort

This year, SPF40’s closing dinner was sponsored by Air Tahiti Nui, participating Tahiti partners, and Tahiti Tourisme. Sponsors collaborated to design a Tahitian-themed event. The room was decorated with a warm, tropical ambience reminiscent of the destination with images from the 1933 black and white Tahitian movie “Tabu” playing on two screens at opposite ends of the ballroom. A true French Polynesian dinner was served to showcase the cuisine of Tahiti as the hotel chefs labored to reproduce some of Tahiti’s signature dishes, including poisson cru. While guests enjoyed the Tahitian dinner, Nick Panza, Air Tahiti Nui’s VP of the Americas presented the Tahiti hotel and cruise sponsors and highlighted the islands’ media exposure over the past year. The evening ended with a spectacular performance by one of Tahiti’s premier dance groups, Les Grands Ballets de Tahiti.

The Closing Dinner was sponsored by Air Tahiti Nui, Tahiti Tourisme, and the following Tahiti partners:

• Accor/Sofitel Hotels and Resorts
• Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa
• Bora Bora Cruises
• InterContinental French Polynesia
• Pearl Resorts & Spa
• Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises: Paul Gauguin
• Star Clippers
• Starwood Hotels and Resorts Tahiti
• Te Tiare Beach Resort