Eli Abitbol, Gateways International; Caroline Putnoki, Atout France;
Cecilia Rossos, Victours
If France hadn’t already invented Coco Chanel, they would have made up for it by gracing Canada with the tailored class of Madame Caroline Putnoki for the last 12 years. The Director, Canada of Atout France has announced her departure from the tourism organization as of December 30th.
At a luncheon in Toronto recently, Caroline spoke emotionally of her beginnings at Consultours in Montreal before taking on the role of Promotion Coordinator for English Canada for the then Maison de La France. During her tenure, Canadian visitors to France have more than doubled, from 400,000 in 1998 to 1 Million in 2010. She credits the Canadian tourism industry’s escalation of product to France for the growth.
Taking on the Canadian marketplace in Caroline’s place will be Madame Armelle Tardy-Joubert, the present Director of Communication & Marketing at the head office in Paris. Madame Tardy-Joubert begins her new role in Canada January 1st.
Caroline is shifting her promotional support behind a very different part of the world – she is moving back to her roots near the Amazon river in Brazil. Born in French Guiana, Caroline will be devoting herself to promoting tourism to the region with a new business venture offering cruises along Amazon’s Rio Negro.
In her words, this is Au Revoir, and not Adieu. But for those of us left to another Canadian winter, Madame Tardy-Joubert has some impressive suits to fill.
