N.Z. TOURIST PUBLICITY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28480, 9 January 1958, Page 8

N.Z. TOURIST PUBLICITY

Increase In U.S. Urged

There is not enough “oomph” yet in New Zealand tourist publicity, or if there is, it is not being channelled as well as it could be, according to Mr J. L. O’Brien, passenger traffic manager for the Matson Line steamship company. Although he did not wish to criticise Zealand, and he said tremendous strides had been made by the tourist trade in New Zealand since a setback during the war, it did appear, he said, that more could still be done to publicise the country in America.

“I’m sure tourist .people would never have too much money to expend on publicisihg the country,” he said yesterday. Many Americans were being advised to visit New Zealand and there had been a trend recently to open up the South-west Pacific to American tourists. Excellent work was being done by the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department, but he felt more could still be done.

With import restrictions recently applied and the country in a serious financial position, tourists from America could open up a new and large avenue for “new moneys,” he said. “It is the invisible export. New Zealand has a valuable export in the way of tourist trade and it should capitalise on it,” he said.