Six reasons why New Caledonia is an easy sell for agents
Naturally splendid and culturally rich, New Caledonia boasts a plethora of delights for the tropical traveller, just three hours from Australia’s Eastern seaboard.
Here’s five reasons why selling New Caledonia is a piece of cake:
- Places to go, people places to see
New Caledonia is a microcosm: from its mainland to the archipelago adorning its flanks, visitors will find a host of different places boasting a larger nation’s equivalent of landscape-locked experiences.
Outside of the buzzing city centre of New Caledonia’s capital Noumea, travellers will find outback plains on the West Coast, tropical mountains on the East and eye-watering, beautiful beaches in the Loyalty Islands. In the South, they’ll find 9,000 hectares of untouched wilderness and red earth underfoot.
- Adventures on offer for the whole family
New Caledonia is home to the world’s longest continuous barrier reef in the world – the second largest overall after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia – and some of the most enviable waters on this side of the world.
Home to an exceptional diversity of plant and wildlife, including 350 species of coral and around 1600 species of fish, New Caledonia’s coral reefs and associated ecosystems were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008. It is here that tourists will find some of the best snorkelling sites in the world.
- Tranquil, uncrowded beaches
Although New Caledonia is world renowned for its beaches and diving sites, finding a private patch of sand along its coast is easier than it sounds. At the Loyalty Islands – Lifou, Mare, Tiga and Ouvea – visitors can find a remote patch of populated coral reef, and untrodden beaches. The Isle of Pines is equally beautiful, housing the endemic Ille des Pins Snail – a delicacy – and is a perfect spot for a French picnic on the beach.
Cheese arrives regularly from France, so it’s possible to pick up soft Reblochon or buttery Beaufort. Travellers can enjoy them the local way with duck rillette, jambon, cornichons and baguettes at a sunset pique-nique on a hillside – and don’t forget the wine or champagne (they’re pleasantly affordable).
- Rich local culture and cuisine
Home to one of the world’s oldest living cultures, the Indigenous Kanak, and Caledonian and French cultures, New Caledonia presents cross-continental influence and synthesis at its best.
New Caledonia’s cultural diversity is best reflected in its food, which marries mouth-watering, flavoursome Pacific Island cooking, with French wine, pastry and tradition.
Local delicacies include Bougna, which is a traditional Melanesian dish combining chicken, lobster or fish with yams, bananas, sweet potatoes and coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves. The food is then steamed in an earth oven heated by hot stones. Bougna is served with a variety of other dishes, including seafood, coconut milk and tropical fruit.
Being an island in the Pacific, it will come as no surprise that seafood features on many restaurant menus with freshly-caught prawns, lobsters, oysters, marlin, mackerel, crab, and mussels for delectable bowls of moules marinières. The market at Port Moselle in Nouméa is one of the best places to pick up fresh seafood, caught by local fishermen.
Boulangeries – best translated as either a bakery, or a place where bread is sold – and patisseries are commonplace throughout New Caledonia, but even roadside petrol stations are stocked with fragrant fresh croissants and pastries.
Outside of forgivably, stuffing your face up and down the country, we recommend tourists visit the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Nouméa for a look back at the 3000-year-old history of the Kanaks.
- Local festivals
On top of the wealth of delightful New Caledonian foods on offer around the country, there’s also an equally formidable line-up of local festivals celebrating French traditions.
For arrivals around June, check out Nouméa French Cheese Festival – a celebration of the art of cheese-making. There’s also Bastille day celebrations in July, and the French Francolies music festival.
The festival piece de resistance is New Caledonia’s Giant Omelette Festival, which takes place every year around Easter time in Dumbéa, just outside of Nouméa. People celebrate the creation of a giant omelette in remembrance of Napoleon demanding it be made for his soldiers by the townspeople of Bessieres.
Be sure to arrive hungry!
- Budget-friendly travel (fewer than three hours from Sydney)
A taste of France would usually call for a trade in time zones, but if travellers fly out at breakfast from Sydney on your way to New Caledonia, they’ll arrive in Nouméa for lunch. Flights across the Eastern seaboard take fewer than three hours on average to arrive in New Caledonia, which means saving time and money.
For added convenience, the international airline of New Caledonia, Aircalin, operates 12 flights per week non-stop from Australia to Nouméa.
For more information on what New Caledonia has to offer in 2019, click here.
Latest News
Collette goes off the beaten track with Canyon Country tour
To be clear TW is not advocating actually walking off the beaten track. Avoid the coyotes. Stay on the beaten track.
Intrepid & Korean Tourism Organisation team up to give agents a cooking masterclass
These guys learnt that Korean cooking is more than just putting kimchi on 2-minute noodles (as we once thought).
Winner, winner! Intrepid reveals the 9 lucky agents that won $2k
Who won the incentive? Which Intrepid trip will they spend it on? What day of the week is it again? Where am I? Huh?
Corporate Traveller reports 42% increase in Easter traffic this year
Business travellers just love Easter! Expect plenty of chocolate stained documents returning to the office on Tuesday.
Turbulent year wiped $384m off Qantas brand value: Report
Meanwhile, eating tuna at your desk can damage your own personal office brand value by several thousand dollars.
FAMIL: Room-Res & Singapore Tourism Board shows agents the Lion City’s roar
Click this article to see a man very impressed by a 20-layer chocolate cake. We're not kidding, he loved it!
Oceania Cruises offers sailors free pre-cruise hotel stay
Looking for ways to make your holidays as long as possible? Look no further.
Bonza launches new website to compliment app, agent portal
Does news about an airline's website fill you with ecstasy, glee and joy? Get your hit of the good stuff here.
MTA agents attends ‘Lunch ‘n’ Learn’ with AMA Waterways
When organising the event, Lunch 'n' Learn beat out Dinner 'n' Divulge and Breakfast 'n' Banter. Understandably so.
Travelmarvel reveals 2025 South America tours
If you spot any typos in the newsletter today it is because TW became distracted Googling images of Machu Picchu.
Tourists from 5 countries could be BANNED from visiting Australia
Anthony Albanese's immigration laws could impact tourism from certain countries.
Just how many passengers will Qantas & Jetstar hop around this Easter?
Airline workers are ready for gleeful Easter travellers! Also prepared for sticky children with chocolate on their face.
Air New Zealand gets ready for bumper Easter weekend
Air NZ gears up for travelling passengers this Easter, while TW looks to beat our egg eating record. 117 here we come!
Four Seasons Yachts reveals first itineraries to the Caribbean & Mediterranean
These trips look so good we wish there were five seasons! Alright, we'll see ourselves out...
FAMIL: Travellers Choice treats top agents to the wonders of Rotorua
This one's got plenty of famil pics and no one looks shockingly hungover in them! Clearly no TW staffers were there.
European Waterways celebrates 50th anniversary with week-long founders cruise
Plan on celebrating your 50th anniversary with a bottle of Moët and fairy bread? European Waterways has better ideas.
100th route! Jetstar celebrates the launch of Brisbane-Avalon with 12 hour sale
Jetstar knocks a ton and celebrates with a sale while TW once scored a ton and celebrated with about 17 beers.
Record-breaking year for NSW as visitor expenditure soars past $50 billion
Enjoy running round the Opera House? Be prepared to elbow even more tourists out the way.
Norwegian Cruise Line makes play for solo travellers
NCL ensuring you don't have to go trawling Tinder to find a cruise partner. Thank goodness, we were sick of catfishing.
Entire Travel Group’s Canada and Europe 2024/25 brochures are out now
Entire's new brochure is bittersweet; it both informs your clients and makes you envious of the holiday they'll take.
Malaysia Airlines adds 3 new destinations & A330neo seats
More seats means cheaper airfares and more money to spend on overpriced airport sandwiches. Woohoo!
Two divine days onboard Crystal Serenity
It's only pure serenity onboard this ship. Anxiety, agitation and anguish have been rejected by the bouncer.
How the Globus Family of Brands elevates coach touring: Travel Weekly TV with Chris Fundell
Chris' here so you don't think coaches mean peeling your thighs off a sticky leather seat every time you stand up!
The Flight Centre Foundation gears up for massive 2024 with 3 new board members
The foundation looks to invest $200k this year, spurring the TW journos to figure out how to qualify as a charity.
Barking Owl Communications to head up Anantara & Avani in ANZ
Fellow PR competitors had been barking up the wrong tree even thinking of bidding for this job!
Amex GBT to purchase CWT for $871m
It's big deals like this that get a firm handshake - hence the sore hands over at the CWT and Amex GBT offices.
1000MTG’s second global conference reminds agents to ‘strive and thrive’
Alongside messages to 'strive' and 'thrive' were those to 'survive', 'drive', 'arrive' and 'jive' (when appropriate).
Qantas A330 makes “loud bang”, pilots forced to shut down one engine
Qantas refusing to let Boeing have all the headlines in aviation world today!
GX Community Tourism Summit 2024 location revealed!
The new location has arrived and it'll blow your socks off! Time for another trip to Target for more socks then.
Visiting the destination my Mum didn’t want me to
Yet again, this journo has been a stress to his mother. Discover how this trip spurred his mother's anxiety here.
Agents come out of their shells at P&O’s turtle hatchery event
For some, it's a few glasses of bubbles to lure them out of their shell. For these agents, it was a bit more literal.
Boeing cleanout: CEO, chair to go as safety crisis plagues the manufacturer
CEOs are falling thick and fast these days. We should have started up a bingo game with their headshots in the office.
Virgin looks to swap MAX 10 order for MAX 8s amid Boeing delays: Reports
Virgin has changed its order for something smaller. Much like we have to at Maccas following a worrying doctor's visit.
Club Med unveils newest luxury yacht for 2024/25 early bird sale
This yacht is preserved for the early birds! Night Owls may also get onboard depending how late they stay up.
Abercrombie & Kent 2024 Asia Portfolio is here
Round up the family and get planning an Asia jaunt. Or, if they're hard to handle, brush them all and go it alone!
Elevate your earnings: Final days to secure double commission with Inspiring Vacations’ March offer
What could inspire you to sell more Inspiring Vacations? Double commission of course! That's all the inspiration needed.