PORT RECORDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 239, 8 October 1937, Page 14

PORT RECORDS.

TO GO BY THE BOARD.

HEAVY SHIPPING INFLUX.

FILLIP TOR TOURIST TRADE.

During the coming summer a number of records for the Port of Auckland should be shattered. More cruise liners than ever before are scheduled to call at the port, and among their numbers are two of the largest passenger ship* afloat ; thus depth, breadth and length records for merchant ships should go n .V 'he 1 ,|. ANo new l.igh leveis will be set. for numbers of passengers, and at one stage, just, before Easter, there should be a ncord gross total of passenger ship tonnage at city wharves.

Official advice received from. New York gives the Auckland dates for the visits of the S'orddeutecher Lloyd Atlantic hniathan Bremen and the Flamburg Amerikii cruise liner Reliance. The Bremen will arrive nn April 7 and pail on April ID and the Reliance will berth early on the morning of April 11 ami depart on the evening of April 11. While the movement* of the great turbine steamer I'.mpress of Rritnin are contingent on the arrangement of inland itineraries, her dates for Auckland are tentatively set down as, arrival April 12. departure April 14.

Although the Cunard liner Frnnconla, the, fourth world cruiser, as distinct from the ships of other lines which aro milking customary short summer cruiser into those waters, is not to arrive until April 2ti, the week starting April 10 will see exceptional activity in the port. On April 14 the Matson Line's trans-Pacific passenger liner Mariposa will arrive and about the same time there is certain t") bo a large quantity of passenger and cargo tonnage in the harbour, including freighters loading wool after the third Auckland sale. On April 18 one of the Canadian-Australasian Line's ships will also ho here, with probably about the same time ail Intercolonial passenger ship. Over and. above that there arc coasters and trans-Tasman freighters to bo taken into account.

Huge Grow Tonnage. Taking the week from April 10, the gross tonnage of four of the main ships, Bremen. »1,850, Fiinpress of Britain, 42,348, Mwlpofa. 23,937, and Reliance, 19,821. alone brings the aggregate to 137,702. With'the influx of other shipping a figure not far short of the 250,000 mark should be reached.

Tho position is further complicated by tho fact thai; April 15 is Good Friday, and although ! the Bremen, Empress of Britain and the Reliane* should have cleared port by then the danger of overlap, in so far as accommodation ashore and the drain on transport facilities are concerned, la not altogether absent.

The Government Tourist Department, which Is handHng aneh arrangements for all the ships with the exception of. tho Jcrvis Bnj (arriving late December) and tho Franconla, both of which are operating In conjunction with Messrs. Thomas Cook and Sons, etate, however, that special train and road arrangements have been made for tourists and that there should be no conflict with the normal Easter holiday traffic.

Hotel accommodation has also been booked. While some difficulty was experienced for the period over Christman and New Year, and again for dates in late January and early February, all has been settled to satisfaction. The centres where difficulty was experienced in making hotel reservations wero Rotorua, Wairakei and Taupo. Those places will figure prominently in overland trips made by the tourists, while Waitomo will also be Included.

The coming tourist season will easily he the busiest Auckland has ever had. Starting on October 20, cruises including Auckland as a port of call will also be made by the following ships: Orion, Htrathmore, Strathaird, Orford, Jervis Bay, Otranto, Strnthnaver, Oronsay and Strathmoro (second visit). The lastnamed vessel will sail from Auckland on the night of March 12, .when there will bo a temporary respite from cruising liners until the Bremen heads the list of world cruisers early in April. ,

Advertising Dominion. Among officers engaged In the tourist business is the general opinion that the influx of ships, which is primarily due to the unsettled state of affairs in the Orient,, will offer an unexcelled opportunity to advertise New Zealand.

While the cruise ships will bring record numbers of visitors, some hundreds from, overseas are expected to arrive in the 1 city for the Catholic centenary celebrations dating from February 27 to March 0, while numerous conducted tours will be made here by regular passenger lines during the summer. In thle direction also it is stated a fresh record will be set. These tours are world and Pacific-wide and originate in Canada, the' United States, Australia >nd England. Formerly, the stay in Now Zealand was only a few hours, but owing to the efforts made by Government representatives in Los Angeles and Toronto arrangements have been made for stopover* ranging from 10 days to throe weeks in the Dominion.

As in the ca«e of the cruise ships, Rome of the' conducted tours Were formerly directed at the East, several being from Pacific Slope ports to Xcw Zealand and Australia and thence through the Netherlands East Indies, Singapore, China and Manchukuo to Japan, but those schedules have been cancelled, with a consequent extension of time allowed in Now Zealand.

The opinion i* widely expressed that New Zealand's "tourism" this year will be Impressed on the minds of the people of mattv lands on an unprecedented fJSSI T!t is ftI " 0 Btßt «' that until snmclent and suitable hotel facilities tSffl J h " fu " est bcneflt from tourist tramo m a year-round holiday country.