Foreign money call for tourism

Press, 28 May 1983, Page 6

Foreign money call for tourism

Without foreign investment, the New Zealand tourism industry would not reach its full potential, said the Minister of Tourism, Mr Talbot, last evening. Speaking at the annual conference of the Canter-bury-Westland division of the National Party at Lincoln College, Mr Talbot took issue with recent comments by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Lange, who had said that New Zealand was under threat of becoming “a nest for international cuckoos.”

Mr Talbot said that, unlike Mr Lange, he supported foreign investments .in tourism in New Zealand. “I want to tell David Lange that he is fouling his own nest if he seriously believes we can develop the

sort of tourist industry we need in New Zealand without foreign invesment. The Leader of the Opposition seems intent on gutting the §oose which is going to lay le golden eggs,” he said. “The greater participation we have from the private sector in the tourism industry, the stronger and more rapidly will the industry develop and grow.” New Zealand would be letting big marketing opportunities slip by if it did not welcome hotel chains such

as the Sheraton and Club Med. He said it was vital for New Zealand to link itself with such international marketing chains. There would be spin-offs for the entire tourism industry.