TOURIST TRAVEL

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25092, 25 January 1947, Page 9

TOURIST TRAVEL

TRANSPORT FIRM’S VIEWS Although it had been confidently expected that, after travel warrants had expired and servicemen had finished their demobilisation leave, the demand tor passenger accommodation would be less heavy, this was not the case, said _the manager of a Christchurch passenger transport firm, when he was yesterday by a reporter of The Press.” On the contrary, he said, the demand was heavier than it had ever been, and was not entirely attributable to holiday traffic. Since March, 1946, he said, his company had carried more than 1,500,000 perspns, and it was expected that by March this year the total would be as high as 2,000,000. Sight-seeing tours were popular, he said, some people travelling as often as three times each week on one of the standard trips; and the number of passengers availing themselves of such tours had increased 70 per cent, during the summer holidays. Eight, thousand people had been taken on sightseeing tours round the city since Christmas.

Buses were becoming increasingly popular as a mode of travel, he said, and there was a tendency these days to charter a vehicle for picnic parties or for a firm’s sports fixture. There were times, too, he said, when buses were used to t take large wedding parties to outlying places. The tourist trade of the South Island was relatively undeveloped at present, he said, but steps were being taken to improve the somewhat heavy balance of tourist trade which was in favour of the North Island. “All too frequently,” he said, “the overseas visitor coming to this country gets as far as Rotorua and Taupo, and remains in ignorance of the beauty spots of the South Island.”

Visitors who were staying in Christchurch often came to his office, he said, and asked if there were any facilities for seeing Canterbury in a short space of time, and if there were any good rest-houses and hotels where they might break their journey, ’fhis constant inquiry, he said, was the result of the lack of publicity concerning Canterbury and the environs of Christchurch. There was a definite inclination to put overseas visitors into the North Island, he said, and until the South recognised the need for the establishment of superior hotels at beauty spots throughout the island, and the even greater necesisty for an integrated travel system, it would not be possible to entiep overseas visitors to patronise our scenic resorts. Inquiries from Abroad From letters and questionnaires which his company had received from overseas, he said. there was a growing interest in the advantages offered by New Zealand as a tourist country, and it was obvious that people were anxious to visit this country. Letters had been received from Poland, America, Canada, Britain and Australia asking for information about the tourist amenities in New Zealand. As Canterbury would be celebrating its centenary in 1950, it would be wise to offer potential tourists sufficient encouragement to spend their money in the South Island, rather than in the North, he said. An overseas visitor had expressed surprise that there were no fishing lodges or "dude” ranches at the foot of the Southern Alps, he said, and had been amazed at the number of heavily-stocked trout 1-kes which received no visitors.

The all-expenses tour was a popular departure in the transport business, he said, people enjoying the novelty of travelling without the responsibility of booking hotel accommodation and meals, and of having points of historical interest pointed out to them by a hostess, who also provided picnic lunches by the wayside. It was not generally realised, he said that there were no week-end holiday spots near Christchurch that could cater for a large number of visitors, exoept Akaroa. which was invariably booked up months ahead for accommodation. He named Lake Ida. which lies only 70 miles from Christchurch, as an undeveloped pleasure spot. “There are excellent natural facilities for all manner of winter sports, such as ski-ing, iceskating. and climbing,” he. saidu “ap4 for trout fishing an<F deer-shooting in summer. But the place is rarely visited. and is almost unknown in the tourist brochures of the province."