Tropical Paradise Folks Have Hammock With Your Name

French Polynesia wants you to know it’s closer than you think.

That island group, dominated by Tahiti, long celebrated by painters and authors and still controlled by France, is about an eight-hour flight from LAX, which makes it about two hours farther than Hawaii, but 2 1/2 hours closer than London or Paris.

“Most people think it’s farther. Some think it’s 15 hours,” laments Judy Lynes, spokeswoman for Tahiti Tourisme, the government tourist office.

These islands have classic tropical scenery, comfortable hammocks and beaches that five decades ago inspired James Michener’s first “Tales of the South Pacific.” In part because its prices are so high and their location is so remote, Polynesia’s high-profile Society Islands (most notably Tahiti, Moorea and Bora-Bora) get fewer worldwide tourists in a year (about 165,000) than Hawaii gets in a good week. But now Tahiti and its neighbors want tourists in a big way. When French nuclear testing in waters off the island shut down for good last year, island authorities found themselves in a profoundly good-news-bad-news situation: They were free at last of a divisive issue that had erupted into anti-government rioting in 1995 that poisoned the island’s placid image. But they also were deprived of what had been a key source of revenue over the last decades.

Desperately looking for new revenue to replace the lost military money, those officials have set a goal of nearly doubling tourism (to 300,000 visitors yearly) by 2003. In short, the bienvenue mat is out.

The irony here is that at least three of the new players in Tahitian tourism, Pleasant Holidays, Outrigger Hotels and Runaway Tours, played key roles in the development of Hawaii as a mass tourism destination. Now, with Hawaii thoroughly developed and three decades of dramatic tourism growth flattening out there, these businesses are selling Tahiti and its neighbors as a more exotic, exclusive and undeveloped alternative.

All this means we consumers can expect to hear more about French Polynesia than ever before. And the more we hear, the more pressure travel professionals will face to hold air fares down and supply more affordable alternatives to the islands’ storied $500-a-night lagoon bungalow rooms.

Here’s a sampling of recent stirrings in Tahitian tourism.

Flights. Since 1992, the number of weekly flights from California to Papeete has grown from eight to 14. Thirteen of those are flown from LAX by Air France, AOM French Airlines, Air New Zealand and the scheduled charter carrier New Frontiers/Corsair, which sells most of its tickets through tour operators. Hawaiian Airlines also flies to Tahiti from Oahu. Round-trip LAX-Papeete air fares begin at about $700.

Tour packages. Delta Dream Vacations last year started offering Tahitian itineraries (relying on Air New Zealand to carry passengers from Los Angeles to the islands). Runaway Tours, another major tour operator in Hawaii (which sells trips only through travel agents), started offering Tahiti packages on May 27. And Pleasant Holidays, the dominant American tour operator in Hawaii for more than 35 years, in September will dispatch its first tours to seven French Polynesian islands. (Pleasant Holidays further poised itself for Pacific expansion by purchasing Japan & Orient Tours, a veteran San Diego-based tour operator, on June 27.)

Already, in the fray to draw middle-class as well as upscale travelers, many operators are promoting packages for prices that reach below $800 per person, double occupancy, for a seven-night air fare-and-hotel combination. Pleasant alone is aiming for 10,000 travelers to Tahiti in 1998, but will be competing with the other newcomers and such veteran island tour operators as Fantasy Holidays, Islands in the Sun, Jetset Tours, Runaway Tours, Tahiti Legends, Tahiti Nui’s Island Dreams and Tahiti Vacations.

Cruises. Radisson Seven Seas Cruises in December will dispatch the new 320-passenger ship Paul Gauguin westward from Fort Lauderdale. Beginning Jan. 31, the ship will offer year-round seven-day Tahitian itineraries, beginning and ending at Papeete, with stops at Rangiroa, Raiatea, Bora-Bora and Moorea along the way. Fares for the cheapest cabins (without balconies) begin at about $3,550, including air fare from Los Angeles. The line’s early booking discount shaves $400 from that price. The Paul Gauguin effectively will replace the less luxurious Windstar Cruises’ 148-passenger Wind Song, which is scheduled to leave the South Seas for Costa Rica at the end of this year. Berths aboard the Gauguin started selling in February. Also, until it sails for the Caribbean Dec. 21, the 386-passenger Club Med 2 offers three-, four- and seven-night itineraries (calling at Papeete, Raiatea, Bora-Bora and Moorea) for rates starting at about $2,500 for the seven-night cruise.

Lodging. All of French Polynesia has only about 3,000 hotel rooms, but in the next two to three years, that number is expected to rise by 1,000 to 1,500. Meridien hotels has new properties under construction on Bora-Bora and Tahiti, both expected to open next year. And Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, a Hawaiian mainstay that operates about 20 lodging properties on Oahu and 10 more on neighboring islands, has a hotel going up on Bora-Bora and will take over the rebuilt former Tahiti Hotel in Papeete. Both projects are targeted for 1999 completion.

Reynolds travels anonymously at the newspaper’s expense, accepting no special discounts or subsidized trips. He welcomes comments and suggestions, but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053 or e-mail chris.reynolds@latimes.com.