Fall-Out Ox Tourism

From a Noumea correspondent

he stress of the Pacific boycott imposed on UTA ich Airlines has contributed to a vehement debate the value of tourism in New Caledonia, i lengthy exchange of open letters in the Noumea y press began when the Territorial Assembly was eked for giving insufficient support to the tourist istry. The charge came from Ascadeto, a local •ist development association of airline and hotel rators etc, which includes a representative of the nch airline.

'our months of boycott brought a substantial loss Pacific trade for UTA, besides hitting the Chateau ,al hotel to which it traditionally directs its Noumea tors.

Metropolitan French tourist interests have continually bied for the territory to spend more freely to attract rists to Noumea and have particularly criticised the budget of the Caledonian Tourist Office, which is ;ricted to around 5A150,000 a year, n the present attack, Caledonian members of the

Territorial Assembly have retaliated by condemning what they claim to be monopolist activities of the French airline. They have also condemned the French Administration for allegedly preventing a non-French airline, Pan-Am, from building a hotel m Noumea.

At the same time, members of the assembly autonomist party Union Caledonienne have pro tested at the bad overseas image created for the territory by local hoteliers who have charged exorbitant prices and refused accommodation to bona fide tourists during the island’s economic boom around 1970, when rooms were occupied on a monthly basis by the insurge of mainly French businessmen.

The autonomists also underlined the responsibility of Paris with its nuclear programme in the Pacific prompting the current difficulties in the Caledonian tourist industry.

Finally, instead of advocating further subsidies and costly publicity, the Caledonian politicians urged tourist promoters to make greater use of welcoming smiles and courtesy, characteristics for which some tourist representatives have not been particularly famous.