ATTRACTING THE TOURIST.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 76, 29 March 1924, Page 15

ATTRACTING THE TOURIST.

AN AMBITIOUS SCHEME. BETTER ACCOMMODATION AND GOOD ROADS. Speaking at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce council meeting on the subject of the "Development of Tourist Traffic in New Zealand," Mr. W. J. Broadfoot, president of the Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce, drew attention to the fact that in 1912 American tourists spent 615 million dollars in France, 115 millions in Italy, and 130 in Switzerland. Without advertising, 8000 tourists came annually to New Zealand, but if the business were put on a commercial basis 100,000 tourists could be induced to come here. Honolulu, by levying'a wharfage charge on all cargo, made £25,000,000 annually. Three thousand three hundred tourists coming annually to the Dominion and expending £300 each, would leave £1,000,000 behind them. In no other country in the world, said Mr. Broadfoot, were so many wonders and beauties packed into so small a compass, and the tourist season could be spread over the whole of the year. Mr. Broadfoot referred to a statement of an American that New Zealand had twenty times the beauties and wonders of Honolulu, but lacked first-class accommodation. Admitting the Dominion's isolation, the speaker said that with faster vessels it could be brought within three days of Australia, and there used to be faster vessels from America than there were to-day. Outside of Australia and America there was the wonderful F,ast—lndia, the Malay States, China and Japan—and those countries had British people who, in order to recuperate, could not do better than come to New Zealand. The present was the age of motoring, and it would be necessary to construct good motor roads to connect up a chain of hostels giving first-class accommodation. It was no use facing the problem of improving the tourist traffic unless the question of accommodation and accessibility by good motor roads was settled. The scheme would involve the construction of from 2000 to 2500 miles of good roads, and he considered they could be paid for and maintained by the levying of £10 or £15 from the pockets of the tourists in a way that they would not miss. One hundred thousand tourists would, by that means, contribute from one to one and a half million pounds revenue. Those roads would also serve the purpose of bringing the backbloek settlers into closer touch with the towns.

Such a scheme as this, contended Mr, Broadfoot, would be the biggest advertising medium New Zealand over had.

Tourist Board Suggested.

The committee set up by the chamber to consider methods of developing the tourist traffic recommended, in order that the tourist traffic of the Dominion be put on a commercial basis and become a large and permanent source of Tevenue, that it was necessary to have better accommodation and facilities and adequate publicity. It was suggested that the money for publicity should be drawn from a special fund contributed to by the Government, the public, and private hotel-keepers, and shipping, tourists, and other services. It was suggested further that the committee should draw up an equitable scale of contributions and formulate a policy for a tourist board which should be representative of all interests. When the whole scheme was completed it was to be presented to the Government with a request to give it legislative effect during the cominfj session.

The committee made a final recommendation as follows: "That all matters in relation to the liquor traffic be eliminated from the discussion and resolution of the committee, it being the opinion of the committee that the charges for accommodation for tourists should be in a scale sufficient to provide the service necessary quite apart from revenue derived from any other source."