The Principality of Monaco Visits Australia and New Zealand

With this year marking the 150th anniversary of Monte-Carlo and SBM group the delegation from Monaco has chosen the perfect timing for a week in Australia dedicated to the famous principality. Seven delegates from Monaco are currently touring across Australia to promote the assets of the second smallest state of the world. The road show kicked off last Thursday with a joint event with French Travel Connection, the exclusive distributor of the Passport to Monte-Carlo - a package offering incredible value for money - including a helicopter transfer, VIP service in the hotels and visitors passes to all attractions in Monaco.

The road show continued with a series of daytime and evening events in Sydney and Melbourne targeting travel trade, MICE, media and VIP and is now getting prepared for the last stage of their road show taking them to Auckland.

Travelling with the Monaco Tourist & Convention Authority as part of the delegation are: Mr Guillaume Rose-President of the Monaco Tourist & Convention Authority, Ms Alison Roberts-Brown-Regional Director Australia, Mr Jean-Francois Gourdon-Head of Communications, Ms Lena Froelich-Marketing Executive as well as Mr Benoit Badufle- Asia Pacific Director of Sales of Monte Carlo SBM Group and Koji Ito-International Sales Manager of the Fairmont Hotel Monte-Carlo.

As a special guest this year, the Monaco Tourist & Convention Authority is proud to have Patrice Frank on board who is Head Sommelier of the famous Hotel de Paris in Monaco's most exclusive district of Monte-Carlo. Patrice Frank impresses the audience by giving a unique, historical and personal insight into the world of wine in the world's biggest hotel wine cellar housing over 450,000 bottles. Patrice Frank owes his profound knowledge and incredible expertise to an extensive background in the wine and hotel industry. He has held his prestigious role as a Head Sommelier of the Hotel de Paris since 2000, however his career in the wine industry started way back in 1989 and Patrice Frank managed to climb up the career leather from an experience as a wine waiter to being chef sommelier in one of the most sought-after 5 star hotels of the world. (http://www.hoteldeparismontecarlo.com).

Over the last few years the Monaco Government Tourist Bureau has managed to strengthen its presence on the Australian market and converted more and more day trips into overnight stays. A new milestone has been reached this year thanks to the creation of a new dedicated facebook page: "Visit Monaco Australia" which has known a huge success with more than 1,100 likes within the first 15 days.