New Caledonia

AFTER EARNING the economy 8.5 billion Pacific francs in 1984, tour ism to New Caledonia halved the following year, largely as a result of the French administration’s military re sponse to pro-independence agitation.

Australian and New Zealand visitors dropped by 80 per cent, though Japanese numbers dropped only by 15 per cent. The sudden collapse of tourism forced New Caledonia’s government to take a hard look at the state of an industry second only to mining and metallurgy, and responsi ble for 10 per cent of the territory’s GNP.

With the loss of 2000 jobs, hotel occu

pancy down to 30 per cent, empty shops and taxis, the value of tourism became ob vious. A study completed in 1986 found that “the New Caledonian tourist product can be considered incomplete and rela tively outdated”, with most hotels in the interior of the island closed or requisi tioned by the gendarmerie, hotels in Nou mea in need of refurbishing and upgrading, and a shortage of entertainment and lei sure activities for tourists, But the answer does not lie in cheap packages that attract people who then dis cover the country expensive. Says Henri Maniquant, director of the New Caledon-

Luxury and French sophistication are Noumea’s drawcards.