(Noumea) For the first time in two and a half years, a cruise ship stopped in New Caledonia on Tuesday, but several localities refused to welcome again this type of tourism, very developed in the archipelago until to the COVID-19 health crisis.
Posted at 9:40 a.m.
the Pacific Exploreran Australian cruise ship, stopped in Nouméa on Tuesday with 1,900 passengers on board, thanks to the opening of maritime borders to tourism announced by the New Caledonian government on September 28.
This is a first since March 16, 2020 and the ban on the entry of cruise liners into New Caledonian waters due to fears of the spread of COVID-19.
This resumption was marked by a customary ceremony and the presence of the president of Carnival Australia, Marguerite Fitzgerald, who indicated that 20 ships of the company would stop in New Caledonia by the end of the year, and 150 stopovers are planned for 2023.
The other giant in the sector, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), should soon be offering cruises to New Caledonia again.
The health crisis has raised many questions about cruise tourism, which is considered unsustainable. A debate to which New Caledonia does not escape.
A time envisaged, the reopening of the stopover of Lifou, the most important of the Loyalty Islands, will not take place before, at best, the month of November, at the request of the customary authorities.
Another very popular stopover, the Isle of Pines, in the South Province, will not welcome a liner before 2023 and in much smaller proportions than before the health crisis, when 150,000 to 200,000 cruise passengers disembarked on this island each year. of 1500 inhabitants.
However, cruise passengers are an opportunity for these islands far from economic centers. “We will have to resolve the difficult equation between environmental protection and development for the benefit of our populations”, underlined a customary leader during the welcoming ceremony of the Pacific Explorer.
Cruise tourism has experienced major development in New Caledonia over the past ten years, welcoming up to 200 ships and 500,000 tourists per year.