Motel standards in N.Z. praised

Press, 19 October 1976, Page 5

Motel standards in N.Z. praised

New Zealand motels, although modest compared with the size of some of their American counterparts, are up to world standards. This is the view of Mr P. J. Wurts, secretary-treasurer of the Best Western motel organisation, who was in Christchurch at the end of an eight-day tour of New Zealand. Mr Wurts is one of 240 American moteliers who recently travelled in two groups, seeing New Zealand’s motel and tourist facilities, and who will leave today to attend an Australian motel conference.

Mr Wurts, who visited New Zealand in 1974, when he was then president of the American organisation, was so impressed with what he saw here then that negotiations were started with the New Zealand motel co-operative, Motel Federation of Australasia International, to affiliate. Although a good 60 per cent of New Zealand’s motels were small by comparison with many in the United States, their standard was high, and Mr Wurts was sure that they would be acceptable to Americans on holiday.

What affiliation between the American, Australian and New Zealand motel organisations meant to the traveller was that New Zealanders travelling through the United States could book motel accommodation through the

local organisations, just as Americans could book New Zealand accommodation through the Best Western group in the United States, Mr Wurts said. All the Best Western lodges were individually run and owned. Best Western was a non-profit organisation set up mainly to sell member lodges and advise on working methods, said Mr Wurts. According to Mr K. Clout, M.F.A.’s executive director, New Zealand has a major potential for American tourists, but it needs “exporting.” Mr Clout said he was confident that the personal recommendation of American visitors, combined with the affiliation of the two organisations, would soon lead to a greater flow of American tourists into New Zealand. Mr Wurts said that, with his organisation’s desire to expand into Asia and the Pacific, it would have been very difficult to have sent teams out to assess the available accommodation. Now, through the affiliation of Australia and New Zealand with the American group, 135 local motels have been added to the chain. This meant that in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia. New Zealand, and the Caribbean, the organisation had 17,083 lodging properties, all of good standard for the traveller to choose from.