InterContinental Hotels Group has announced itself in New Caledonia with the signing of three hotels set to open across the next five years.

The new-build InterContinental® Lifou Wadra Bay Resort will be a 50-room luxury hotel located on the scenic Lifou, the largest island of the Loyalty Islands.

Designed by both local architect, Atelier 13, and renowned interior designer, Chada, the resort is already under construction and will open in November 2021, featuring luxurious rooms, lagoon-front suites, all-day dining, a fine dining restaurant and bar, along with a gym, spa and an outdoor pool.

Hotel Paradis d’Ouvéa will convert to Holiday Inn® Resort Ouvéa in November 2021 following a full refurbishment, bringing it to life as the highest quality accommodation offering available on the island.

Located on the beachfront at the picturesque Mouli Beach on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ouvéa Island, the 34-room resort will offer all-day dinning, a bar and an outdoor pool, not to mention stunning views of the lagoon with its endless shades of turquoise.

Holiday Inn Resort Lifou will convert from the current Hotel Drehu Village in 2024, following an extensive refurbishment program.

The 30-room beachfront resort is located in the heart of Lifou Island’s town centre of Wé and will offer direct beach access to the magnificent, sandy Bay of Chateaubriand. Once it rebrands, it will offer all-day dining and bar, as well as an outdoor swimming pool.

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Source: InterContinental Hotels Group

Abhijay Sandilya, IHG’s Vice President of Development – Australasia, Japan & Pacific, said it was an exciting time for the group.

"The Loyalty Islands currently have no international hotel brand so bringing the world’s largest hotel brand family, Holiday Inn, and the world’s largest luxury hotel brand, InterContinental, to the islands will boost the territory’s global profile and give us a fantastic opportunity to offer IHG guests a unique New Caledonian tourism experience," he said.

"We are proud to work with the owner of these properties to deliver spectacular and inspiring island hospitality.”

The InterContinental and Holiday Inns in Lifou and Ouvéa are all part of a long-term management agreement with owner Société de développement et d'investissement des Îles Loyauté (SODIL), a government organisation of the Loyalty Islands Province, one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia.

William Ihage, General Manager of SODIL said New Caledonia was an aspirational destination for travellers from around the world.

“The Travel and Tourism sector is growing twice as fast as the world economy and supports one in ten jobs[1], making it a true growth engine," he said.

"In 2017, more than 120,000 tourists and 493,000 cruise ship passengers visited New Caledonia, and we’ve seen a large increase in the number of Australian, New Zealand and Japanese tourists, as well as continued visitors from France.”

“We know that IHG is a fantastic partner to bring our hotels to life, given their experience in operating amazing luxury properties in the surrounding Pacific islands, such as Fiji, Vanuatu and French Polynesia, as well as a significant presence across several of New Caledonia’s key inbound markets, including France, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.”

Several airlines, including New Caledonia’s own Aircalin, Qantas, Air New Zealand and Air Vanuatu operate frequent New Caledonia flights to Nouméa’s La Tontouta International Airport departing from several Australian and New Zealand cities.

IHG currently has 51 hotels operating under four brands in Australasia, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, voco and Holiday Inn Express, with another 35 in the pipeline, including Hotel Indigo.

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