TOURIST NEEDS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27666, 24 May 1955, Page 13

TOURIST NEEDS

90 Per Cent Want Good Accommodation “The Press” Special Service l WELLINGTON, May 23. Ninety per cent, of the oversee! tourists to New Zealand are more than 50 years old. They do not want super-luxury hotels—just good, comfortable accommodation. The Minister in charge of Tourist and Health Resorts (Mr E. H. Halstead) made these points when emphasising to members of the New Zealand Travel and Holidays Association in Wellington that “the hard nut we have to crack is accommodating tourists.” First-class tourist hotels were needed at Auckland and Queenstown. While it was doing everything possible to encourage overseas tourists, the Government realised it had a duty to provide its own people with adequate holiday accommodation and attractions. Motels would do much to meet the problem. In the United States 50,000 motels had been built since the war. “Our problem is how to get motels started here.” Mr Halstead explained. Mr Halstead said that each year New Zealanders spent £5,000.000 touring overseas. This year New Zealand expected to earn £2,500,000 from tourists. This figure had to be built up to £5,000.000. In 1949, 9000 tourists visited New Zealand; this year the total was expected to be 20,000.

ACCOMMODATION FOR TOURISTS

TIMARU CITY COUNCIL’S DISCUSSION Tourist accommodation in Timaru was discussed by the City Council at its meeting last evening. Cr. A. A. Wakefield moved that the council be prepared to sponsor and advocate to the Licensing Commission that further licences to sell liquor be granted within the city. Cr. Wakefield said that hotel accommodation according to a recent survey was 277 beds in three and four star hotels, 84 in two-star hotels and 159 in private hotels and boarding houses which were possibly of tourist class. The survey also revealed a possible increase of 39 beds. To offset this if the Hydro .Grand Private Hotel closed dovpn, as was likely, there would be a decrease of 70. The management .could not be expected to continue. He suggested that the Licensing Commission be written to saying that because of the decline in the number of hotel beds in the growing city that the position was getting serious. Cr. W. Best, seconding the proposal, said that the council should give a lead.

The proposal was lost. In a report to the council, Mr A. W. B. Watkinson, city inspector, said that the total number of beds from all classes of accommodation was 526 available to the travelling public. Since 1945 when there had been 666 beds available there had been a re- . duction in the same classes of 118. The survey referred only to hotels and boarding houses and did not. take into account motels and the three camping sites in the city capable of holding nearly 2300 persons.