New Caledonia’s tourism leaders have ambitious growth plans to not only double the number of Australian visitors over the next five years, but perhaps even land a few extra flights.
Speaking to KarryOn, New Caledonia Australia Sales and Marketing Director, Caroline Brunel said ambitious growth plans come after seeing a strong rebound in Aussie visitors over the last two years.
She said due to growing interest and increased marketing activity, last year some 21,000 Aussies travelled to the French island, up 16 percent on the prior year. This year, she’s anticipating Australian arrivals to reach around 25,000, which is half the projected 50,000 by 2021.
Hoping to build on the current momentum and reach next decade goals, Brunel revealed that the bureau has been busy cooking up a few new initiatives including the recent launch of the destination’s first specialist tour operator.
New Caledonia Tourism together with Entire Travel Connection launched a New Caledonia specialist operator – New Caledonia Travel Connection.
According to Brunel, New Caledonia Travel Connection will offer agents and their clients access to unique experiences that aren’t available through general wholesalers. This will include specialty itineraries around various interests such as golfing or kite surfing.
“This is a specialty operator that will allow agents to go deeper in terms of product offering.”
Caroline Brunel, New Caledonia Australia Sales and Marketing Director
In addition to the first specialty operator, she said New Caledonia Tourism will continue to push its ‘Hello Neighbour’ campaign, which aims to build awareness of the destination in the Australian market.
According to Brunel, there’s still a bit of misunderstanding in Australia when it comes to New Caledonia, with a number of Aussies still under the impression that it is ‘just another Pacific destination’. The ‘Hello Neighbour’ campaign aims to break down the information barrier by showcasing its distinctive culture, experiences, food and its close proximity to Australia.
Of course, visitor growth to a destination requires more flights. Brunel said there are no plans to announce new services this year, however there’s constant talks and desire for airlines like Aircalin and Qantas to add more flights.
“We’ve got a good relationship with Aircalin and we’re always talking to Qantas. Flights are important to us because it’s the key to unlocking a destination.”
Caroline Brunel, New Caledonia Australia Sales and Marketing Director
New Caledonia is also currently sponsoring the French Film Festival in Sydney – the second largest set of French movies in the world.
Brunel said the month-long event exposes the destination to around 150,000 Aussies around Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania and Adelaide.
