MORE TOURISTS IN S. ISLAND

Press, Volume C, Issue 29467, 20 March 1961, Page 23

MORE TOURISTS IN S. ISLAND

Bureau Manager’s Report The conducted tour programme planned by the Tourist and Publicity Department showed that from November, 1960, to May, 1961, there would be 663 nights spent tn the South Island compared with 274 nights in the North Island, said Mr W. A. Pickford, district manager, of the Government Tourist Bureau, in a report to the executive committee of the South Island Publicity Association. Mr Pickford said that although some 80 per cent, of the tourists arrived at North Island ports or airports there was a marked swing towards the South Island as compared with the position five years ago. Figures produced by Mr Pickford comparing the numbers of tourists visiting the North and South Islands, with either the Tourist Department or on private firms’ tours, showed the following figures:—South Island. 1450 nights (with each night representing 23 persons): North Island, 589 nights. On independent tours it was not possible to draw up accurate figures, but in recent years the attractions of the new hotels at the Hermitage and Milford had made the South Island more at-

tractive for short-term visitors, who now included those resorts in their itinerary in preference to the former main attractions of Waitomo and Rotorua, said Mr Pickford.