7 Jan 2014

Visa issues no Tahiti tourism obstacle for Chinese

4:23 pm on 7 January 2014

The French high commissioner in French Polynesia says he no longer considers the visa issue to be an obstacle to attract tourists from China.

Lionel Beffre gave the assessment on local television after the territory's president, Gaston Flosse, returned from China where he sought to firm up investment projects.

Mr Beffre says over the years the number of documents Chinese visa applicants need has been reduced.

He says an applicant needed to supply about 30 documents but now only has to provide five or six.

He says in his view, the visa issue is not the biggest obstacle in getting Chinese visitors.

French Polynesia's tourism sector has shrunk through much of the last decade, adding to the territory's economic woes.