TahitiA new Innovation partnership deal among Tahiti Innovation Labs (TIL), Travel Startups Incubator (TSI) and the Ministry of Tourism for French Polynesia was announced today and will set the stage for the French Polynesian islands to become the next global tech hub and smart tourism destination.

The Smart Tourism initiative will bring full tech integration to the island: TSI will introduce new technology and travel tech startups to the island, while TIL will integrate, deploy and promote their services with assistance and support from the Ministry of Tourism.

TahitiIn the last decade, Tahiti’s tourist arrival numbers have fallen from 260,000 visitors a year to around 180,000. For an island that counts tourism as its number one industry, the drop in arrivals is significant. This initiative aims to boost tourist numbers by pushing the island to the forefront of the tech in tourism scene.

The final objective is to build a smart, proactive customer assistance network and countrywide Internet of Things (IoT) platform that will provide one-to-one human interaction, support and timely opportunities for feedback. The aim is to help tourists discover the island and its tech services so they can make the most of their stay and share their experiences with others. All of this will rely on a free WiFi cloud covering all main islands and providing seamless internet access to all tourists.

“This partnership will position French Polynesia at the sharp end of tech and travel innovation,” said Thierry Lehartel, CEO of Tahiti Innovation Labs. “Imagine arriving at the island and effortlessly having everything you need to know at your fingertips – it would make traveling easier and more enjoyable to know that your needs are taken care of. We aim to provide visitors with a frictionless connection with the island, with complete access to tourism and leisure services at all times. The initiative will vastly improve the tourism sector and our visitors’ quality of experience.”

A dynamic approach to the partnership will provide both TIL and the Tahiti’s Minister of Tourism with ongoing access to the TSI private investor and innovation partner network. The TSI portfolio of startups will be reviewed and evaluated for market fit, business development needs, potential local deployment integrations and technology acquisition opportunities.

Selected TSI portfolio startups will therefore have a unique opportunity to showcase, develop and promote their technologies in the countrywide ecosystem. Startups chosen for review will be introduced to local stakeholders and considered for deployment throughout the island. Travel and lodging expenses will be funded or subsidized for the incubator or any startups for the purposes of bringing the incubator to Tahiti for preliminary negotiations and introductions to the local hotels and merchants.

“We are looking for the wow factor, an open platform that’s accessible to large numbers of tourists from all over the world,” said Matt Zito, Managing Partner of TSI. “Tahiti will become an incubator for technology in tourism; we want visitors to the island to harness that technology to help them discover new places, new experiences. Thanks to improved networks and mobile internet connectivity, visitors will be able to share their experiences in real time and become high impact social beacons and ambassadors for these beautiful islands.”

After piloting the new technology, a testing period, and setting out a roadmap for future integration, feedback from local industry will be sought. Successful pilots will be rolled out locally and promoted as part of the “Smart Tourism” initiative.

With governmental support from Tahiti’s Ministry of Tourism, TIL will leverage the exclusive Tahitian ecosystem and bring services and technology together to form a countrywide platform. The partners will seek to improve the local network and experiment in order to find a new model for innovation in tourism technology.

The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Jean-Christophe Bouissou, announced this exciting and innovative partnership during his opening speech for the Tourism Forum at the Territorial Assembly of French Polynesia: “Tourism has always been the main economic engine for French Polynesia, but at only 8% of our GDP, it has considerable room to grow. The Ministry of Tourism has just released our 2015 – 2020 vision for tourism, and I consider that technology is undoubtedly becoming a key element to not only improve our visitor’s experience, but also to enable our visitors to promote the destination through whatever social media channels they prefer. Our government is intent on not only implementing international best practices in the field of tourism technology, but also in creating a suitable environment for tourism tech startups to setup shop in Tahiti and validate their assumptions.”