Tahiti Wants T.E.A.L. Back

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30511, 5 August 1964, Page 1

Tahiti Wants T.E.A.L. Back

"The Press** Special Service AUCKLAND, August 4

The Tahitian Territorial Assembly wants Tasman Empire Airways services to the island re-established.

A request to this effect is to be made to the French Parliament.

The Territorial Assembly decided on this action after learning that the number of tourists visiting Tahiti had fallen by 16 per cent in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year. In its report of the assembly meeting last month, “Le Journal de Tahiti” quotes a statement by Mr Gilloteau, the Director of Tourism, who said that in 1964 even more encouraging results might have been expected, taking into account new air links with the United States offered by a new transport company. Unseen Factor

“But an unforseen factor has changed this forecast,” he said.

“It was the suppression of the weekly services of the New Zealand company which served Tahiti for several years.”

The main objective of the Tourism Service, said Mr Gilloteau, was to try to attain immediately stability of airline services from Tahiti toward the east—United States, Europe—and the West—Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. In the direction of the United States, the situation was satisfying. “Unfortunately," said Mr Gilloteau, "it is not so in the direction of the west since the suppression of T.E.A.L.’s services.”

At present there was only a weekly return flight from Papeete to Nandi. The second flight forseen by the French company, U.T.A., had not yet been realised. Mr Gilloteau said another reason for the decrease in the number of tourists was that Tahiti was becoming less and less a point of destination. A tourist preferred to buy at little extra expense a round-trip ticket which included a call at Tahiti.