NTO Update – New Caledonia Tourism: All-In On Recovery!

New Caledonia Tourism (NCT) has adopted an innovative and inclusive approach to tourism recovery with the overarching theme of “Remobilize, Reconstruct and Reconquer”.

In order to recover lost tourist flows NCT is preparing its communication and sales initiatives for 2022;

• Inspirations and expectations actions – despite the borders being closed for 2 years, NCT has continued to maintain, at a minimum, the visibility of New Caledonia abroad with the general public and travel professionals, via the field work of its 4 external agencies and multiple targeted digital initiatives. For example, more than 1,600 foreign retailers have been trained online on the destination as part of the “New Cal Specialist” e-learning and incentive Programme, more than 500,000 subscribers to social networks and newsletters have been inspired by the permanent creation of attractive multimedia content on the destination, and various competitions such as “Caledonian Xmas” and “New Caledonia Coming Soon” have attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of internet users. With the reopening of New Caledonia, it is now time to capitalise on these achievements to re-target these numerous prospects, already strongly committed to the destination, by attracting them with campaigns and follow-up offers
• Communication Campaigns – investing massively in major communication campaigns, such as online advertising campaigns, media and influencer invitations, PR operations, content marketing, event support, outdoor advertising and so on.
• Sales Campaigns – NCT has started negotiations with the major tour operators, OTAs and airlines to set up several sales operations during the year

Although a certain number of travel restrictions and administrative formalities remain in place (see infographic on Covid travel conditions from Australia), the lifting of the 7-day quarantine period for vaccinated people signals New Caledonia’s readiness to welcome a significant number of French, Australian and soon New Zealand and Japanese tourists. In this context, the international Caledonian airline, Aircalin, is gradually increasing its number of flights and is even working on opening a new route via Singapore. It is expected that other airlines will follow suit in the months to come, which paints a cautiously optimistic picture of a gradual return to pre-crisis traffic by 2025.

Source: New Caledonia Tourism