ATOUT France has appointed a new Director for its Australian office, Dominique Maulin-Diabira, who will permanently take over from former head Patrick Benhamou.
Maulin-Diabira is currently the regional head for a number of markets, and will now oversee the Australian office from the United Arab Emirates.
The Atout France veteran has been with France’s destination marketing organisation for more than 20 years, and will replace Frederic Mazenq, who briefly oversaw the Australian office in the wake of Benhamou’s departure.
Mazenq will now move to the United States to oversee a number of Atlantic-based markets.
Maulin-Diabira, who spoke exclusively with travelBulletin this week, said France will need to reinvent itself in order to continue to capture the imagination of Australians.
“[Australia is] a really mature market, even if it is a long-haul market…we have repeat visitors who come once, twice, so we need to reinvent ourselves.”
Maulin-Diabira highlighted Nantes and the Loire Valley as destinations with new offerings.
“It’s exceptional in terms of gastronomy, in terms of wineries, in terms of culture, the castles,” she said.
Another of Maulin-Diabira’s responsibilities in Australia will be to promote France as the number one sustainable tourism destination in the world.
She told tB France has already begun to develop this brand image around Europe, and it is her task to ensure this is reflected to Australian travellers, to become the top sustainable tourism destination by the end of the decade.
“We have more offers, more products concerned with, and working really deeply with, certifications in terms of sustainable tourism,” Maulin-Diabira said.
“It means that you can have a hotel in Paris, five stars, and you don’t have to worry about your impact on the environment, because the hotel is already qualified.
“You can go to a really nice restaurant and also enjoy the same, because the restaurant has already certified, the product is from the regions.”
Maulin-Diabira highlighted the 2024 Summer Olympics currently taking place in France, as a great opportunity to develop the country’s sustainable tourism sector, particularly in the capital.
“We added a direct Metro line between Orly (Airport) and Paris, which started a month ago.
“The new city of Bordeaux has been completely renovated, there is a new tramway, accessible cycling.
“This is not only marketing, this is a deep concern in France to have product fit in with the requirements of the sustainable tourism.”
The DMO plans to use its France Connaisseur program to spread the word of these offerings to the Australian travel industry, as well as its yearly events such as Rendez-Vous, and the upcoming Destination Montaigne in January.
“[This will] show not only the mountains during the winter, but during the summer,” Maulin-Diabira said.
“The mountains have to reinvent themselves, because we have less and less snow, so we have to propose more activities during the summer”
