‘Many hotel rooms, not enough visitors’

Press, 9 August 1980, Page 6

‘Many hotel rooms, not enough visitors’

Plenty of hotel rooms are. available in most places out-| side Auckland, but not I enough visitors, the Minister of Tourism (Mr Cooper) told the annual meeting of the Brewers’ Association of New Zealand in Christchurch last evening. Mr Cooper said 300 rooms were under construction in Auckland and “a. few” in Wellington. “Frankly, I think that is enough. I .would lack credibility if Itold people there was room for more,” he said. Moves had to be made quickly to bring more tourists to New Zealand, Mr Cooper said. The private sector had to be encouraged to get the technology, such as computer booking serv-

ices, that was “absolutely essential” for tourism. Mr Cooper was speaking after the association’s president (Mr W. S. Otto) had called for a tourist development support programme. Mr Otto said Government incentives had not generated I a worth-while growth of ihi vestment in tourist hotels. [High construction costs, ■ high interest rates on finance, and high labour costs, coupled with a comparatively low tariff structure, meant capital investment in hotels was not profitable. He recommended a tourist development support programme, similar to those adopted in Japan, Singapore,, Malaysia, and Korea. j This could include a 25 per cent minimum equity,

input by those providing additional tourist standard accommodation, a 50 per cent interest-free “investment advance” from the Development Finance Corporation, and a 25 per cent Regional Development suspensory loan. Mr Otto also said that duty and on alcoholic beverages should relate to their alcohol content, so that manufacturers and importers would be on an equal footing. Mr Cooper said that the . Government aimed to remove obstacles so that growth opportunities could :be used. Unless there was ’growth in the community, .breweries would suffer.