Peer-to-peer panels - INTA International Urban Development Association

Follow the press coverage about the Panel of La Reunion in Aruba:
http://www.24ora.com/local-mainmenu-5/19240-experticio-riba-tereno-di-planificacion-urbano-di-aruba-a-bay-isla-frances-la-reunion.html

Panel day-by-day La Reunion

On Saturday the group of experts arrived in La Reunion and met for the first time in Saint-Gilles.
On Sunday, the panel was hosted at the Golf du Bassin Bleu (owned CBo Territoria) and has been welcomed by the representative of the Deputy Mayor of Saint Paul and the CEO of CBo Territoria. This morning has allowed the panelists INTA to present themselves to the local panelists. A series of presentations (geographic, economic and social context of the island, City of St. Paul, CBo Territoria and Isautier group) gave the panelists an approach of the context and environment of the territory on several fronts and scale. The strengths and weaknesses of La Reunion have been discussed, opportunities and threats set.

The panel has realized the strategic importance to have a vision for the tourism development this island. Technical visits on the afternoon stressed the potential for tourism: the wild south and the outskirts of the volcano (Piton de la Fournaise), various resorts, the Saga of Rum (Rum History Museum) to understand the importance of the culture of the sugar cane in the island and the Palm Hotel which has a very interesting concept of lodges. The goal of the day was reached: the panelists felt and measured the interest to express their vision and bring their differences on the issue of tourism in La Reunion.


Panel INTA and local team	Bassin Bleu Golf on top of Saint Gilles seaside reasort

Lava from the 2007 eruption of the volcano Piton de la Fournaise	PALM Hotel - Grande Ile -South of La Réunion

"Saga du Rhum" Museum	"Saga du Rhum" Museum

On Monday, the panelist have been welcomed by the Mayor of Saint-Paul (City where the touristic area Saint-Gilles belongs to) and had the opportunity to hear from the local authorities what are the issues on tourism development for the west coast of the island and for the whole island.
A press conference has been held to communicate on the process in which the Panel is taking part.
You can download articles of the regional press here.

On the afternoon, they started interviewing local actors of the tourism sector.The creation of a cluster of tourism in the island is very new and show the will of the professionals of this sector to have a transversal and common vision about tourism development. The Panel met in the afternoon some of the professionals who are part of this Club and they clearly identified their needs regarding the tourism development mostly in terms of public policy and training.
They followed interviewing local actors until Wednesday afternoon.


Press Conference in the City Hall of Saint-Paul with the Lady Mayor, the President of the Tourism Club, CEOs of Isautier Group and CBo Territoria and INTA	City Hall square, Saint-Paul

Saint-Paul bay	Touristic offers in the seaside resort: Copacabana restaurant, Saint-Gilles

On Wednesday and Thursday, they started working on the recommendations they had to present on Friday afternoon. They met the Club of Tourism, to benchmark experiences from abroad, especially from Guam, New Zealand, Aruba and Azores, islands where the tourism economy is a major asset for their development.
On Friday afternoon, they presented their recommendations, in front of all the interviewees of the week, the Mayor of Saint-Paul and the Vice-President of the Region.
The Panel has recommended to have a global tourism development strategy including the West and the South of the island where the tourism potential is very high. They stressed the fact that a global image of the island has to be created to brand the whole island as a destination (blue for the sea, green for the mid-hills and red for the volcano). Then, they focused on the potentialities of two touristic projects in the West (CBo Territoria) and in the South (Isautier Group) that could be the axis of development for tourism sector, not only on the seaside area but on the hights of the island as well.
The main politic decision-makers (Saint-Paul municipality where Saint-Gilles seaside belongs, and the Region, in charge of the economic and tourism development) agreed on the priority to focus on the tourism development and to support public-private initiatives to enhance economic development through sustainable tourism project involving local population and innovative concepts.


Working session for the preparation of the recommendations	The Panel met the Club of Tourism, new cluster for tourism professional of the island

Interviews session	Strategic tourism development in La Reunion: the touristic arc from North to South and from the sea to the mountains and volcanos.

Huguette Bello, MP and Mayor of the City of Saint-Paul reacting to the recommendations of the Panel	Fabienne Couapel, Vice-President of the Region of La Reunion closing the meeting

Panelists La Reunion 2010

List of the panelists for the Panel in La Reunion 12-18 June 2010

	International Team
Michel Briene, Rotterdam, The Netherlands	Michel Briene is partner of Ecorys Nederland BV. Within the group he works as an expert in tourism, leisure and regional development in the Department of Region, Strategy and Entrepreneurship. Before this position, he was working as a project manager on leading impact assessment, regional-development & tourism work, in Ecorys (1998-2005 and NEI 1990-1997). He worked as well on housing market and regional development. Through these positions, he gained an extensive experience on project management, and complex projects.
Henry Chabert, Lyon, France	Henry Chabert is a Consultant on urban affairs, a private firm specialised in cultural projects. Henry Chabert was a French and European Parliamentarian, Deputy Mayor of Lyon in charge of Urban Planning, Vice President of the Urban District of Lyon, Managing Director of the Public Development Corporation of Etang de Berre near Marseilles. He was the initiator in Lyon of “Plan Lumière” -1989- and of the “Fêtes de la Lumière” -1999. He graduated from the Ecole supérieure de commerce de Lyon and the Institut des Hautes Finances.
Noud Fransen, Aruba, The Netherlands	Since 2008, Noud is Urban planner and head of department policy spatial planning in Aruba. He is in charge of the policy department regarding spatial planning in Aruba, stimulating economic diversification through spatial policy and is consultant regarding tourism related projects in San Nicolas. Before working in Aruba, he was senior architect at BDG Architecten Ingenieurs in Almere, the Netherlands, from 2000 to 2008. He worked on various projects in The Netherlands, such as housing, masterplan, public facilities… Later, Noud worked as a consultant for Jaime Rouillon and with Franz Sauter & Asociados engineers, in Costa Rica, on several projects of office buildings in Costa Rica. From 1994-1998, he was Junior Architect at De Architectengroep Loerakker, Rijnboutt, Ruijssenaars, Hendriks, van Gameren, Mastenbroek.
Ernie Galito, Guam, US	Ernie A. Galito, Deputy General Manager, Guam visitors bureau. Ernie Galito has a diverse tourism background in marketing, product development, public relations, and industry relations in source markets of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and North America. • Guam Visitors Bureau, Board Director and Chairman of the Japan Marketing Committee. • Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association, Public Relations & Marketing committee member • Ka’Ikena Lani TV Corporation, licensee KFVE-TV, Honolulu, Hawaii, Board Director • Guam Radio Services, licensee KOKU-FM, Hagåtña, Guam, General Manager • American Marketing Association – Guam Chapter, president • GTA TeleGuam Holdings, LLC, managing director – marketing & product development • Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Mississippi State University. • National Association of Broadcasters Executive Program at the University of Notre Dame.
Jacques Godron, Paris, France	Jacques Godron is consultant in territorial development strategies, economic governance and development, territorial marketing, and management of territorial projects. He has a large experience built during his career as a national expert for Public Sector for KPMG. He was Head of the department of territorial economic and tourism development. He realized several studies for national strategies (attractiveness of French metropolis, transportation and mobility for the attractiveness of territories, tourism policy for territorial development...). He worked extensively on tourism policy projects, in France (Guyana, Auvergne, Nouvelle Caledonie, Pyrénées Atlantique...) and abroad (Brussels). He published a book on local development: “Territoire stratégique”, in 2004, L’Harmattan.
Christine Lor, Paris, France	Technical Advisor at the RATP (Public transportation company for the Paris Region), in the department of Development and Territorial Action, Christine began her career in the Ministry of Education then moved to a large local authority, where she worked with architects and developers for the development and implementation of a 3 billions Euros program of public investment, construction and renovation of educational facilities. She then joined the RATP, where she was successively in charge of Institutional Relations, advisor for the General Director for Development of the RATP Group. Today Christine Lor is in charge of relations with regional economic stakeholders engaged in a major transport infrastructure projects. She has been president of a Parisian School of Architecture. Christine graduates in Modern Literature, University of Grenoble.
Simon Milne, Auckland, New Zealand	Simon Milne is Professor of Tourism at the Auckland University of Technology and has directed the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute since its inception in 1999. Simon completed his PhD in economic geography at Cambridge in 1989. He taught at McGill University, Montreal from 1989 until 1998 and established the McGill Tourism Research Group. Professor Milne has considerable international experience in local and regional economic impact assessment, the development of island nation tourism products, labour market analysis, small and medium enterprise performance, industry sector analysis, the formulation of innovative tourism development strategies and the links between information technology, tourism and community economic development. Professor Milne has conducted tourism research in the Caribbean (Grenada, Jamaica, Tobago and Cuba), Canada, Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, the South Pacific (Cook Islands, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Niue, Tuvalu, FSM, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Samoa), Kenya, the Philippines, Vietnam and Russia. He has worked as a consultant for a range of New Zealand and international organizations. The latter include UNDP, UNESCAP, the World Tourism Organisation, the European Union, Luxembourg Development, CIDA, the Chilean Regional Development Agency (CORFO) and the Organisation of American States.
Carlos Santos, Açores, Portugal	Carlos Santos is Professor of Economics of tourism at the University of Azores since 2005 and was associate professor from 1998 to 2005. He teaches as well in the Master “Economie du Tourisme International” in the University Toulouse Capitole, France. Since 2006, he is President and CEO of the Azores Tourism Observatory (Observatório Regional do Turismo), a private association involving the Regional Government of the Azores, the University of the Azores and the Azores Tourism Association (Visitors and Convention Bureau). OTA is in charge of defining tourism strategies for the Azores Tourism public authorities and of implementing several tourism studies and surveys in the Azores, Portugal. From 2000 to 2006 he was Senior Tourism Advisor of the Regional Government of the Azores (Secretary of the Economy), Azores, Portugal. He is a participant in the International Cooperation with the Air France “Acting For Life – Groupe Développement International Tourism Program”.
Detlef Skrobanek, Bangkok, Thailand	Mr. Detlef Skrobanek is currently Corporate Director of Technical Services for Dusit International Group, Thailand. He has over 20 years of international experience in management and development of hotels, resorts and luxury residential development projects in Canada, Middle East and Asia for Four Seasons, Hilton International, Kempinski, Rhombus Holdings, PT Royal Oak Development Asia Tbk. He has provided technical services to new development projects including strategic sourcing, negotiation and defining technical service agreement as well as developing concepts, design criteria and standards, space planning and budgeting of hotels.
	Local team
Sophie Boyer de la Giroday, Saint-Paul	Director of Planning division of the town of Saint Paul. Originally trained as agronomist but she has been working as a planner since 1992. After 7 years as head of study in AGORAH (Regional Planning Agency), she joined the local civil service as Head of Planning of the CIVIS (2 years) in charge of developing a charter between local planning and development of a contract station (Cilaos) and tourism development (Grand Anse, St. Louis River). She then headed to the management of TCO (Territory of West Coast) for 2 years and has managed the project of the Agglomeration and defined the centre of the Agglomeration with the development of the Cambai area (400 ha). After two years working in a private consultant office (planning studies, preparation of the sustainable and urban development Masterplan of the Region), she started as project manager for urban projects in the City of Saint-Paul. One year ago, she became Head of Planning and Urban Development and manages the housing policy, the spatial planning, the land policy, the economic development and tourism.
Sandrine Dunand-Roux, MEDEF-Réunion	Economic Policy Officer – MEDEF-Réunion (Union of French Companies). Graduated of a School of International Business, held a MBA done Scotland, Sandrine worked as head of international development within the group NAF NAF-Chevignon (textiles) for 10 years. Arrived in La Reunion in 2003 for family reasons, she has successively led the affiliate brand SILDY of the GHANTY group, taught in BTS Commerce International and have served as responsible for economic mission within the MEDEF Reunion. Besides the economics component, both macro and micro, she is currently in charge of the densification and the animation of the members network, as well as managing the association.
Philippe Fabing, Sagis	Managing Partner – Sagis. Graduated of Paris Business School (1990), Philippe began his career in Malaysia, where he was running a service-to-businesses company for two years. Then, he joined the L'Oreal Group, where he took in charge for two years, marketing operations for perfume brands for the French market. In 1996, he created and ran a marketing research company in La Reunion, which operations extend to the territories of Madagascar, Mauritius and Mayotte. In 2002, his company has become a subsidiary of Ipsos for the Indian Ocean region. Since 2006, Philip co-directs Sagis, a call center and customer relations. He is also involved in strategic consulting and / or marketing with companies in La Réunion and directs policy studies in the island for Ipsos.
Maël Vergés, CBo Territoria	Director for Development and Director for Sustainable Development, CBo Territoria. Maël graduated from the ISTOM (Institute of Science and Technology of Overseas) and trained as project manager and developer across all sectors for developing countries. He was head of department at the City of Le Port (La Réunion) in the local development pole in 2004. Then, from 2005 to 2008, he was responsible for the development of the Master Plan for Sustainable Development of La Reunion, a strategic policy document for the island. He started to work for CBo Territoria in 2008, where he was Director of Development before being appointed as Director of Sustainable Development in 2010.
Eric Wuillai, CBo Territoria	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CBo Territoria, Eric Wuillai is graduated as Engineer of Public Works of the State. Eric worked in the Pubic Works Service of La Réunion as head of planning and urban development, then senior advisor to the departmental director until 1989. Director of Planning and Investment at SEMADER (public-private enterprise in charge of social housing) from 1989 to 1997. He became CEO of SODIAC, (public-private enterprise in charge of the development and construction of the city of Saint Denis) until 2004 when he joined CBo Territoria as CEO, and Chairman and CEO since August 2009.
	INTA
Michel Sudarskis, The Hague, The Netherlands	Michel Sudarskis is the Secretary General of INTA, the International Urban Development Association, since 1987. He holds PhD in Economics and Political Sciences. Before joining INTA he taught on international co-operation and foreign affairs as Associate Professor with several Universities (Strasbourg, Paris, Nice and Lille) and served with international organisations in Italy and Belgium. Michel Sudarskis writes and speaks regularly on urban issues.
Lola Davidson, The Hague, The Netherlands	Lola Davidson is Coordinator of programmes and activities in the International Secretariat of INTA. Graduated as Master of urban planning, she also graduated in Geography and Mathematics. She worked in an architecture firm on metropolitan centralities. She managed a comparative study – Netherlands, France, Romania – on urban renewal, urban diversity and sustainable development, and studies on alternatives of transports in the West of Paris agglomeration. She worked in a NGO on land policy, urban settlements and public spaces in deprived neighborhoods.