About 34 delegates from the French Riviera came to the UAE last month to present workshops to the industry detailing the resort area’s many attributes. The move came in line with the introduction of Emirates Airline’s five non stop flights a week between Nice and Dubai, which started early last month.
At the same time, Emirates Holidays announced a range of special packages to Nice offering five day and four night stays at four or five star hotels, ranging in price from Dh3,672 to Dh4,748 per person. The offer is valid until January 31.
A unique selling point for Nice is that it is located between sea and mountain, according to Dominique Charpentier, general manager Côte D’Azur French Riviera, adding that in 2007 the French Riviera represented one per cent of the world tourism and experienced more than 10 million visitors, 54 per cent of which were foreign visitors.
The Middle East market represented about 40,000 visitors a year, predominantly during the peak seasons of June to September. About 15 per cent of these visitors were Emirati.
The group were keen to encourage exploration beyond the traditional summer months, and hoped the 2,000 other international events held throughout the year including the most popular events of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Monaco, Nice Carnival and Cannes Film Festival would continue to draw in Middle Eastern guests.
Attractions this year include golf tours, (there are 15 golf courses offering 18 holes in the region); Marineland for familes, and a new tour – Painters of the Cote D’Azur – allows culture vultures to walk in the footsteps of the country’s many famous artists such as Picasso, Renoir, Chagall and Monet.
Thibault Scherberich, sales and marketing manager of ski resorts Isola 2000 and Auron, said the area offered a long ski season from December to April and had recently received three metres of snow.
Candidates to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, Isola 2000 and Auron are “accessible from this airport via shuttle buses costing only one Euro per person”.