Tourism is seeing increasing growth in the Loyalty Islands, as the islands’ charm attracts both the local population and visitors from outside.
The Loyalty Islands receive on average nearly 25,000 tourists each year, nearly half of whom come from the New Caledonian market. In 2010, Lifou, Maré and Ouvéa together received 24,158 tourists:

- 15,968 tourists who stayed on the Loyalty Islands for one or more nights.
- 8,190 day trippers.

Holiday Tourism on the Loyalty Island is dominated by two large markets which make up 80% of the tourists.:

- The New Caledonians (56%), - French tourists (24%), 80% of these tourists come to New Caledonia to visit family in Noumea while 20% come because of holiday packages through tour operators and the Internet.

Japan represents a relatively important part of the tourist market to the Loyalty Islands (12%) as the island of Ouvéa is particularly well known to them because of the novel by Katsura Morimura. A best-seller in Japan in the seventies it is called: ‘The Closest Island to Paradise’.

Well-reputed hotels such as ‘Nengone Village’ and ‘Drehu Village’ attract by far the majority of tourists to the Loyalty Islands. Today Lifou, the administrative centre of the archipelago, has three hotels. What’s more the construction of up-market three-star hotels on each of the three islands is being studied. However the island tribal accommodation provides a range of ever-changing choice and offers visitors a more authentic, relation-based experience.

Small-scale coastal fishing is one of the priority sectors for the Loyalty Islands Province, which wants to develop this industry with such promising potential. About thirty professional fishermen are listed today and about a dozen projects are under consideration. The species fished are snapper and a number of ocean fish: narrowbarred Spanish mackerel, tuna and marlin.

A marine products processing unit, equipped with a laboratory and a fresh fish shop, has been operating on Lifou since October 2006. It is used to sell the island’s production, of around 12 tonnes, mainly on the local market where tourism and consumption by the inhabitants provide sufficient outlets.

On Maré, a modernisation project for the fishing base is underway to boost the industry, which manages production of between 15 and 20 tonnes. On the island of Ouvéa, where catches are smaller, a processing unit is planned, aimed more at sorting and shipping to the Noumea market.

The Province’s objective is clearly to make the fishing industry more professional and better structured, while conducting a rigorous policy of fisheries management, since some species such as red snapper are very fragile.
With the assistance of a local manufacturer, a ship’s hull has been custom-designed for the open sea fishing conditions in the Loyalty Islands. It will be used to equip professional Loyalty Island fishermen from now on.

The Loyalty Islands are also represented in the ocean fisheries sector through the Navimon Company, in which the Province is the majority shareholder. The business has eight 22-metre longliners for production of the order of 60 tonnes a month.

White tuna represents 70 per cent of catches, but the nets also bring up swordfish, red tuna, marlin, or the very tasty dolphinfish.
Part of the catch, particularly white tuna, is exported to the canning factories in Pago Pago (American Samoa). The European and Japanese markets are also clients of Navimon. After difficult years due to the emergence of competitors, the company is recovering and hopes to break even in the next few years.

The Loyalty Islands are almost entirely made up of custom land owned by clans where agriculture is carried out primarily to produce staple foods. The clans make the land available to farmers or their families, and agriculture is gradually opening up to commercial distribution networks. Tropical tubers, which are traditionally consumed and cultivated both as essential items and for custom requirements, are the main crop, followed by fruit. The Province also has a number of small, mainly family-owned, pig and poultry farms.

Maré Island has the most extensive agricultural production in the archipelago, mainly fruit (avocados, lychees), market staples (yams, sweet potatoes and taro) and organic products. The statistics do not give a precise estimate of the production volume for all types of cultivation, but for orchards, the potential is currently estimated at 25 tonnes for avocados, 8 tonnes for pawpaws, 5 tonnes for limes and 2 tonnes for lychees. This produce is sold first of all in Noumea. Each year, in May, Maré organises "The Avocado Festival" which offers visitors activities and a selection of tastings of this creamy fruit.

The Loyalty Islands Province has set up a fruit and vegetable processing unit on Maré, with assistance from the French Government. Located in Tadine, not far from the port, this unit has enabled the island’s orchardists and market gardeners to grade, clean, pack, label, crate and net their produce for export to Noumea.

An agricultural produce processing unit also came into operation on Lifou in March 2007. There, too, the objective is to facilitate commercial outlets for produce from the islands, which are disadvantaged by their distance from the Noumea market.

To establish themselves in the market, the Loyalty Islands are counting on naturally organic agriculture, for which consumer demand is increasing. While Maré is known for its avocados, Lifou is counting on vanilla. Some 800 kilos of pods from this many-flavoured orchid are produced annually. La ‘maison de la Vanille’ (the House of Vanilla), designed to help boost the industry, has just opened its doors in Hnathalo. On Ouvéa, the royal road may be beekeeping. A biodiversity sanctuary, the island is home to one of the two most sought after species of bee in the world, as they are free of any disease. An industry producing queens is currently being set up and, according to its managers, the demand is vast. On the other hand, gourmets will be disappointed, as honey production has been ruled out. Indeed, setting up hives would have required too many bees on Ouvéa, which could have jeopardised the heavily protected Ouvéa parrot.

Since 2006, the production of sandalwood essential oil has also been revived on Ouvéa.

Ouvéa Island is the only place in New Caledonia where copra is produced, and contains some 3,000 hectares of coconut plantations. Last year Ouvéa produced 137 tonnes of copra, all processed locally into raw coconut oil by the Coopérative agricole et aquacole des producteurs d’Ouvéa (CAAPO) (Ouvéa Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Cooperative).

Part of this oil is used to supply one of the four motors of Enercal’s electrical generator. For a time the local mayor’s car ran on this biofuel, but the vehicle is no longer in use. The rest is for manufacturing household soap and soap bars.

Made with a combination of niaouli essential oil and coconut oil, Iaaï (Ouvéa) soap is rare and precious. Thanks to coconut oil’s very low natural acidity and to the anti-allergenic properties of the niaouli tree, this soap has acknowledged dermatological benefits. It is also the only soap in the world that lathers up in seawater. Thanks to a new filter press machine, CAAPO hopes soon also to produce laundry detergent.