will follow
p. 13 · Read in the full issue
Tourist bait will follow the blasts
UTA-French Airlines are awaiting the end of the “bomb” boycott before trying to fill Noumea’s new Chateau Royal hotel rooms with an especially tempting fare offer to Australian tourists.
The new deal is planned to com pete with the lure of Fiji and pro poses return air fare and a week’s room at the Chateau Royal for a mere $A 168.20, which is almost $2O less than the regular fare for air flight alone. UTA says the new offer was actually introduced in May, but because of the boycott, which inter vened in the middle of that month, the plan has been virtually in operative.
The trade union boycott struck a heavy blow at UTA’s $150,000 pub licity campaign in Australia earlier this year. With French planes forced to cut out all services through Aus tralia, it was finally Qantas which had to fly UTA Australian staff for a look at the new Chateau Royal 250room extensions, which are operated by UTH, the hotel arm of the French airline. Caledonians have been assured that a new press and TV campaign advertising Noumea will be launched in Australia as soon as the nuclear boycott ends.
Meanwhile, promoters of Cale donian tourism are looking with envy at the progress being made in Fiji, Guam, Tahiti and even in the New Hebrides which last year had 13,600 tourists (excluding cruise passengers) 13 per cent more than New Cale donia.
Among other tourist industry objectives, Noumea is still awaiting funds to build its first golf course, while various obstacles prevent the introduction of duty-free shopning.
While chic new shops continue to offer the latest fashions from Paris and local theatres and bistros regularly receive imported talent from “la metropole”, the greatest attrac tion for Anglo-Saxon visitors is ex pected to be Noumea’s planned casino.
A group of Caledonian investors, SOCABA Company, have talked with metropolitan operators over plans to open the casino in the former recep tion block of the original Chateau Royal complex. It is hoped that the casino, when built, will prove a keen a traction for money-spending Aus tralian tourists.