N.Z. ‘Pleasant Surprise’ For German. Tourist

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31584, 23 January 1968, Page 12

N.Z. ‘Pleasant Surprise’ For German. Tourist

Germans would be pleasantly surprised to find that New Zealand was practically European in everything except flora, a German freelance travel writer, Mr P. Gerisch, said in Christchurch last evening after completing a week’s visit to New Zealand tourist resorts. Most Germans knew little about New Zealand, he said, and considered it an appendage of Australia. They would consider it a unique experience to find something European at the frontier of the world. “However, when I return to Germany I will recommend New Zealand as an extremely worth-while travel area,” he said. The standard of the tourist facilities in New Zealand compared very well with that of Germany, he said. He was particularly impressed by the standard of transport. “The air services are punctual, and the service is polite and impressive,” he said. New Zealand could expect more German visitors in the k I

next few years, he said. More than 50 per cent of Germans travelled outside Germany and at least half a million travelled abroad each year. There were no monetary restrictions for travel and now many Germans were looking for new frontiers to conquer. Only Australia, New Zealand, and South America remained. Mr Gerisch writes for 30 German newspapers as well as for several magazines and for radio. One of the newspapers for which he writes is “Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung,” the German equivalent of “The Times.” He visited the main cities in Australia and in New Zealand he travelled to Auckland, Rotorua, Mount Cook, and the Franz Josef Glacier. He is the first of several journalists from Europe being flown to New Zealand and Australia by Qantas and the Government Tourist Bureau to boost European travel to Australia and New Zealand. A Dutch journalist will arrive next week and later a Swiss journalist and a photographer will fly to New Zealand.