SOUVENIRS FOR TOURISTS

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21090, 15 February 1934, Page 2

SOUVENIRS FOR TOURISTS

AN INDUSTRY IN NEW ZEALAND? A VISITOR'S SUGGESTION Tl>; suggestion that New Zealand should develop a curio and souvenir industry with the object of advertising the country abroad was put forward most enthusiastically yesterday by Mr R. J. Anwyl, manager for Thomas Cook and Son, Wagons-Lits (Australasia), Pty.. Ltd., in an interview with "The Press." Mr Anwyl said that New Zealand was far behind other tourist countries in this respect, and that there was a great opportunity for anyone with enterprise to launch what must become a profitable business in the manufacture of souvenirs for sale to tourists. One of the big features of travel in the East was the chance to pick up all sorts of interesting curios, said Mr Anwyl. It did not matter in the least if the articles were manufactured in Birmingham or anywhere else. As long as they were sufficiently attractive and typical of the country they would sell like hot cakes. A traveller was very lucky to secure anything valuable in a foreign country—in fact, he would rarely buy anything which was really genuine. But, on the other hand, he' would be only too glad to collect a few souvenirs of his travels to fake home to his friends or relatives. Nothing to Take Away i "But what can I get in New Zealand I to. take home with me?" he asked. | "The last time I went home on leave I from India, China, and Japan, I took two trunk loads of junk with me. When my wife and I went home on leave from Australia we travelled by way of New Zealand, but we had to scratch our heads to find anything suitable to take way with us." There was no reason, he continued, why New Zealand should not develop a flourishing industry of her own in the manufacture and sale of souvenirs. There was plenty of material in the old Maori weapons, in the Maori skirls and capes, in the poi-pois and tikis, and cheap copies of these articles would undoubtedly prove popular among visitors and tourists. Mr Anwyl fold of a fancy dress dance on board a pleasure-cruising ship in which a man and his wife dressed as a Maori and wahinc had won the first prize for their costumes. He also related how stuffed models of the Australian koala bear had sold rapidly in Sydney among passengers who had heard a short lecture on the teddy bear. Maori Handicraft Articles typifying Maori life might be commonplace enough among New Zcaianders, but it should be realised that strangers to the country were not so familiar with them. Imitation Maori weapons would make excellent wall decorations on the other side of the world, and mats and capes could be used for a variety of purposes. In the South Island the manufacture of attractive curios required only a little ingenuity. Inkstands and such things decorated with models of birds came spontaneously to mind. Revenue and Advertisement There were two main arguments for the development of a regular souvenir industry in this country, concluded Mr Anwyl. First, ihe sale of souvenirs would bring a little revenue into New Zealand, work would be provided for a certain number of men. and a profitable industry would, in time, be developed. Second, a great deal of advertising publicity would be carried out free of charge. Visitors to the country would buy their souvenirs and take them home to show their friends. "Can you imagine cheaper advertisement than that?" he asked. "Thousands of people come to New Zealand and never take a thing away with them. It is remarkable what fhey will buy if they see things that are strange and different from what ihey have known in their own country. Photographs are of no use. They ars generally stuffed in albums or hidden away in drawers, and it is only on rare occasions, if ever, that they are inspected. No. what this country needs is a thriving and efficient souvenir industry to supplement the tourist service."