The agreement signed on February 5 by Dominique Thillaut, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur Group, and by David Lisnard, President of the CRT Côte d’Azur, allows airlines to offer promotional partnerships for the Côte d’Azur destination abroad.
On the Côte d’Azur, air transport is a particularly powerful driver for tourism growth: 38% of foreign visitors come by plane using the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, the second largest airport in France after Paris, with 12 million passengers in 2015.
The airport group and the CRT have decided to jointly offer an initiative to support air routes originating from abroad (incoming) to promote the tourism and, more broadly, the economic development of the Côte d’Azur, from Menton to Saint-Tropez.
The CRT has established, in cooperation with the main destinations (Antibes Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Nice, and Monaco) and the professionals (Umih06, Nice Côte d’Azur Hotel Association) involved in an international promotion initiative, a specific task force with a budget allocation of €200,000, funded 60% by the CRT and 40% by the airport and the destinations.
This fund is used to support and co-finance communication plans set up by airlines with the destination around two main areas: supporting the opening of new direct routes to the Côte d’Azur and organizing operations to develop the network in the medium and long term (North America, China, and Russia).
For David Lisnard, the goal is the attractiveness of the Nice airport. “We need to open new routes, because the Côte d’Azur is a truly attractive hub. An airline route that opens brings new stays to the Côte d’Azur and boosts the region’s economy.”
