Egg Pie, Pavlova And Rugs

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31190, 14 October 1966, Page 1

Egg Pie, Pavlova And Rugs

Bacon-and-egg pie, pavlova cake, passionfruit and lamb’s wool rugs could help to keep New Zealand high in the international travel market, the New Zealand Government Travel Commissioner in San Francisco (Mr N. F. Gouffe) said in Christchurch yesterday.

Mr Gouffe, who is visiting New Zealand this week to talk to groups associated with the travel industry, told more than 40 travel agents and members of the industry, that New Zealand lacked local colour. “We must do more than

rely on our natural scenic resources,” he said. “The most successful countries in the tourist world have their own special image, an aura which attracts people to them. New Zealand’s weakness is that it lacks such local colour, and this could become a major fault.” Mr Gouffe said that New Zealand was not famous for any national dishes, but it very well could be. “Pavlova cake, passion-fruit, Chinese gooseberries, and even bacon-and-egg pie are virtually unknown outside this country,” he said. “With the right publicity they could become known as national delicacies.” A more aggressive presentation of New Zealand manufactured goods was also needed. Special items, such as lamb’s wool rugs, New Zealand paintings and travel 5*

rugs should receive more publicity. “I know one American who was so delighted with a lamb’s wool rug he saw, he ordered several custom-made ones for his Rolls Royce,” Mr Gouffe said.

There might be no lack of souvenirs, but there was certainly a lack of attractive ones, Mr Gouffe said. “We make it difficult for travellers to spend money here.” Mr Gouffe said New Zealand was approaching a solution to the accommodation problem. The future looked bright, but there was a need to keep increasing the number of hotel beds to keep pace with the growing trade. “One thing that is serious is the complete lack of entertainment in our hotels,” he said. “Most visitors do not want to go to bed at 9.30. One visitor described the scene in

one of the largest resort hotels in the evening as a lot of elderly people sitting opposite one another in the lounge lethargically sipping coffee and communicating in embarrassed whispers.” Mr Gouffe said there had been some criticism of tourist publicity in North America, but in fact a highly-organised programme was used. “We completely avoid the shotgun approach in advertising,” he said. “It is the easiest thing in the world to distribute masses of material, but it is the results which are important. Only Americans in the 15,000 dollar income bracket can afford to oome to New Zealand, and so we use more selective media.”

“We must be super-critical of ourselves to succeed,” Mr Gouffe concluded. “We just won’t hold our place if we continue to rely only on our scenery.”