AUCKLAND TO SYDNEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 150, 27 June 1931, Page 8

AUCKLAND TO SYDNEY.

The news that the .Matspn Line intended to make Auckland a port of call in its San Francisco-Sydney service, was . received with interest and satisfaction. This has been somewhat'.damped by the report that the line, will not take passengers in the trans-Tasman trade, and, as will be seen in another column, business men in the city suggest that representations should be made to induce the company to alter its decision. The advent of 25,000-ton vessels into'the trade, in addition to increasing the facilities for travel by .adding to the number, of trips available by steamers of this type, will undoubtedly .attract tourists from Australia. The service across the: Tasman Sea is less frequent than it-Was thirty years ago. The steamers are of greater tonnage, but they are not of type which attracts the tourist in Australia who has the alternative of the. better-equipped and larger liners which nan to the East, to India and to the Home Country. The. passenger fates: have increased to such an extent, the daily rates 'are much higher.'.than, those on the. first-class.:liners engaged in the> overseas trade of the Empire, and these factors • have : greatly affected.,the traffic from Australia to New Zealand. To lose the of encouraging that traffic provided by boats of the class that will be put on by the Matspn Line next year cannot be lightly regarded, and concerted action should be taken by the business community to secure a, reversal of the decision. This is a matter in which the Chamber of Commerce might well give a lead. . , B , , ,