Agents Spreading Word

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31225, 24 November 1966, Page 2

Agents Spreading Word

Word of mouth was the surest method of attracting American tourists to the unjustly neglected shores of Australia and New Zealand, said two American airline ticket agents who were in Christchurch yesterday.

They are Miss Bernadette Carroll, from New York, who represent United Airlines, and Miss Natalie Snyder, from Boston, who is employed by Trans World Airlines. As guests of Qantas and Air New Zealand, the girls spent three weeks in Australia and will spend one week in New Zealand before they return home to put their word-of-mouth scheme into operation. “Spectacular scenery, but otherwise dull,” was the impression of New Zealand which had been bequeathed to them by an Englishman, but both strongly disagreed. “Today when we were driving in the car we the

St. Joseph’s Maori girls choir on the radio and it was beautiful. We did not even know your Maoris could sing,” said Miss Snyder. “You should get one of your big beer companies to pack up the records and promote them in the United States. That would be fine publicity for your country,” said Miss Carroll. Back home on the East Coast a visit to New Zealand and Australia was still a “kind of status symbol.” Most tourists went to Europe and the Orient The New Zealand and Australian Tourist Departments were not to blame for the neglect of their countries. Any requests for information made to them had been answered promptly with “beautiful literature.”

Visiting New Zealand was admittedly rather expensive but both agents dealt with thousands of Americans who were not concerned with taking the cost into account.

Hospitality, scenery and food offered in New Zealand were well worth additional dollars spent to include JJew

Zealand and Australia in a round-the-world trip, said Miss Snyder. Many Americans were widely travelled and were looking for somewhere different to spend their holidays. “When I go back I am going to plug the line, ‘You have been everywhere, why don’t you go to New Zealand?’” said Miss Snyder.