BORDEAUX--If you scroll back one post, you'll read my complaints about Atout France. My concern was that the French national agency responsible for tourism development had grown fusty and complacent.
Comes now, today, new that confirms the need for a change at the top. Jean-Philippe Perol is out as Director for the Americas (moving to Brazil), and will be replaced by a tourism professional of the next generaton, 38-year-old Anne-Laure Tuncer.
Like many government bureaucracies, Atout France had become something of an old-boys' club, a sinecure for party hacks and politically faithful buddies regardless of qualifications. The well-liked Tuncer, a native of Normandy, represents a new breed, trained in tourism, with seven years of experience in the New York office and, most recently, four years in London as the agency's deputy director.
Note: I'm in Bordeaux for tourism-related site visits and meetings as the guest of Atout France and Air France.
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