SOUTH ISLAND SUFFERS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19675, 19 July 1929, Page 5

SOUTH ISLAND SUFFERS.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AND SHIPPING. BUSINESS MAN'S EXPERIENCES. "If I had not been convinced by the discussions of the Progress League here that there was any question of a controversy, from a tourist point of view, between the North Island and the South, I certainly was, by the conversation of a party of Americans from Philadelphia, who were on their way to New Zealand by the Niagara," said Mr F. J. Needham, of Christchurch, who has just returned from a visit to the United States, to a Pbess reporter yesterday. "They showed me their itinerary," he added, "and it meant visiting the North Island only. This had been arranged for them in Philadelphia, and I asked them what about the South Island? 'Oh, thein is nothing to see in the South,' they said, and explained that they had been told that there was nothing outside the North Island worth visiting. When I told them of the wonders of the South, of the cold lakes, of Mount Cook, and of Queenstown, they were astounded and would have altered their itinerary then and there, but found that their arrangements would not permit of it." "One lady in the party," Mr Needham said, "was extremely disgusted and remarked that the fault must lie with New Zealand, because if the Tourist Deoartment were worth while such a thing could not have happened. The same woman had told him that if he would only talk to people in Philadelphia of the attractions he had described to her a great many tourists would visit the country. Shipping with America. "There is something real about all this," Mr Needham added, "'and there is also something real regarding the shipping between America and New Zealand which fully emphasises the extent to which the South Island suffers to the benefit of the North. The merchant steamers call at Auckland and Wellington on every trip down from Las Angeles, Vancouver, and San Francisco, bnt they visit the South Island main ports once every two months. Further, if a vessel discharges at Dunedin there is no suggestion of her loading there for American ports. She goes to Auckland to load and her space is booked up for Auckland. When I enquired about this in San Francisco, the reply I got was: 'But you have got nothing to offer from the South.' I then advised them that the South Island could offer them just as much as the North Island and loading in the South and mean a tremendous saving—discharging and loading in the same port and avoiding a loss of two days—and they are now fully considering this point. I quite expect an improvement regarding the facilities for people shipping from the South Island."