Caledonia awaits

Tourism in New Caledonia awaits its flowering still

From ANDRE CHA VILLE in Noumea

When the bottom falls out of the nickel market, New Caledonia seeks anxiously for a new source of revenue. Tour ism is always the obvious short term answer.

The island is not short of economists, millionaires, phil osophers, consultants and well wishers. But the impulsive intiative of the traditional

pioneering spirit is sadly lack

ing. There is much criticism, blame is tossed around like a squash ball, and fiery dis cussions are held on street corners, or the terraces of cafes, while committees and com missions publish reports and

plans.

The territory also has insti tutional problems. It is not in

a position to negotiate landing

rights with international air companies. As a result, there are no charters in and out, and few airlines offering Noumea as a stop-over.

The tourist industry is so fragile that the closing of the

Chateau Royal has completely

disrupted an activity that was going ahead quite well. The

whole weight of incoming tour ists was thrown on the remain ing hotels, most of which have limited or insufficient facilities.

There are numerous plans to build new hotels but these will not relieve the pressure until 1981. Some existing hotels are

making extensions, but only

the Isle de France is undertak

ing anything really substan

tial.

The Chateau had the advan tage of offering accommo dation, if little else. In addition to the difficulties with trade unions, the operation was losing about SAI million a year. Run by UTH, a sub sidiary of the airline UTA, the hotel was filled with mainly Australian visitors coming on economy tours 12 days in Noumea at rates often cheaper than the normal return fare without accommodation. It was obviously not a financial success.

When the Club Med reopens the renovated installations, it will provide no relief to the present situation. The ‘Sea, Sun & Sex’ holiday camp will not offer accommodation to other visitors, and the added influx of ‘Club’ visitors will further strain the present air services.

In addition, the campaign that UTA and the Office du Tourisme started in Japan is bearing fruit. There are so many Japanese visitors on the Noumea-Tokyo UTA service that the French airline has de

cided to employ Japanese

speaking hostesses and stewards, much to the dis pleasure of the local staff. But the advent of the new Japanese

visitors is adding problems.

The new team running the Office du Tourisme has a dif ficult task. Guy Agniel is the intellectual, with a little politi cal experience, which will be very necessary in the months to come. Gilbert Thong has come from private enterprise, a real

‘entrepreneur’ of night-clubs

and cabarets, adding a much needed spirit of straight talking and enthusiasm to the organisation.

The Federation of Country and Island Hotels has also been working hard. Opening its own office in Noumea and mul tiplying contacts in Australia, the Federation has been ‘sell ing’ the natural beauty of the island in competition with the more sophisticated French way of life of Noumea. In fact the two contrasting aspects of this

French territory are comp

lementary, but there are still no organised coach tours. The Loyalty Islands are also eager to see developments, but the domestic airline, AIRCAL, offers insufficient services at high prices. A few tourists now visit the more isolated regions vith self-drive cars as part of he package deal offered by the Federation, but if coach tours vere introduced facilities vould once again be insuf icient.

Tourism in New Caledonia ms the same problem as a dog rying to catch its own tail. Air md road transport will not im >rove while insufficient ac ommodation is available; the >ush hotels are small, because here are few visitors. Until two ears ago, most of the country esorts were dependent on ntemal tourism, the Noumea ity-dwellers who made a

[uick trip over a long weekend,

'he programme to promote tie interior overseas was itended to cover these slack eriods.

A happy initiative was the pening of the Visitors Guide ’entre opposite Anse-Vata each two months ago. The old lotel Lantana has been con erted, tourist promotion or

anisations having opened

ffices in the building, while

the ground-floor accom modates a snack-bar, curios, a car and bicycle rental business, and a visitors’ advisory centre with hostesses.

The restaurants of Noumea have also created an associ ation to help visitors find the kind of food they are looking for. Restaurants offer Japanese, Arab, Indonesian, Chinese, Spanish and Viet namese foods, as well as specialities from various re gions of France, from Alsace sauerkraut to Brittany’s pan cakes. The mission restaurant, called Eau Vive, is also very popular, and if some tourists are a little hesitant about join ing in evening prayer, food and wine are excellent.

There is also a weekly news paper for visitors, called

Noumea Round-Up, published

in English and Japanese. In fact it is of little interest, the

only noticeable change from

one week to the other being the model posing topless on the front page. This might per suade the visitor that another aspect of what is traditionally considered the ‘French Way of Life’ is also available, but he will be sadly disappointed if this was the reason for his visit.

New Caledonia has many problems to overcome, but the current lack of rooms is the

most important. While gigantic

projects are discussed, more discreet improvements appear.

The most interesting is the Paradise Park Motel created by Dominique Antione. In the middle of a busy suburb, a pretty haven of quiet, separate rooms with air-conditioning and cooking facilities, plenty of luxurious vegetation, pleasant lawns, two swimming pools, a very French bar-terrace and an excellent Chinese restaurant.

Such projects do not prevent visitors from sleeping on the floor at the Youth Hostel or

finding overnight accommo

dation in the cells of Noumea Police Station. This was the peak of the August crisis of 1979 when conferences, sym posiums and Australian school holidays combined to create the worst and biggest mess the tourist industry has ever encountered. A little confusion between the hotels and the Australian travel agents can do a lot of damage to an island’s

reputation.

New Caledonia is like a beautiful woman who never attracts attention: she has a lot to offer, but does not have

enough experience and in

tuition to make herself pleasant. If and when the new hotel projects get under way, it can still become one of the fan ciest resorts in the Pacific.

Year-round sunshine and calm waters on the beach at Noumea

Food and artifacts at the market