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C<\/span>hasing visitor numbers can be a cyclical trap of reliance and, at its worst, lead to overtourism \u2013 but for some destinations, now is the right time to break that model and focus on fewer, more engaged, longer-stay arrivals, especially if you look like paradise and want to preserve it. <\/p>\n Imagine if a destination covered an area the size of western Europe, yet only achieved visitor stats of 300,000 a year? You\u2019d wonder what was wrong with the place, right? Or if you were in charge, sack the marketing agency? Venice gets that number of visitors in just a couple of days.<\/p>\n But how refreshing is it to talk to someone who doesn\u2019t want to grow tourism? I know that might also sound weird though, after what the global tourism industry has been through, especially if your destination has waters like you\u2019ve never seen, fascinating culture and history, and overwater villas to watch the sunset from. Surely you’d want as many people as possible to see it?<\/p>\n Much like paradisiacal counterpart and overwater-villa cousin the Maldives, much of this destination\u2019s glorious territory is also water, yet it gets only around a quarter of the Maldives\u2019 arrivals.<\/p>\n Welcome to The Islands of Tahiti, or French Polynesia: let\u2019s call it simply Tahiti from here on in.<\/p>\n Unlike the powers that be over in the Indian Ocean, those in Tahiti are not hell-bent on numbers and building ever more resorts on remote islands. (Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019ve been to the Maldives more times than anyone human deserves. And those resorts are lovely, but it can sometimes feel as if development is unchecked).<\/p>\n Instead, Tahiti is looking to promote slower tourism, longer stays and travel that integrates as much of the local experience into the trip as possible \u2013 and yes, to \u201ccap\u201d that arrival figure at 300,000, once things really get going again. <\/p>\n