Council criticises promotion material

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 5

Council criticises promotion material

Sub-standard promotional publications about the Canterbury region have come under attack from the Canterbury Promotion Council.

An increasing number of poor quality publications were being produced for profit, without proper regard to the promotional job which they purported to do, the council has said.

“Poor quality photographs, and incorrect and incomplete information are doing the Canterbury region and other parts of New Zealand a grave disservice. There is a sad lack of quality control on the part of some publishers,” said the council’s executive officer, Mr Bruce Dunstan. Mr Dunstan said that the Promotion Council was likely to take a more active role in providing local businesses with an. assessment of some promotional publi-

cations. The council would also like to see other regional promotion organisations and possibly national organisations, such as the National Travel Association or the Tourist and Publicity Department report on promotional publications which sought advertising support. Recent publications which have been criticised by the council include “New Zealand Conference Centres, 1984,” published by Monogaphics, Ltd, Takapuna, which Mr Dunstan said “purported” to be a conference planners’ guide to venues in New Zealand.

“The total book, with the exception of a map of New Zealand, is advertising. As a result there is no editorial information about the attributes of different parts of New Zealand, or New Zealand as a whole, to attract a convention to New Zealand,” he said.

Christchurch, which Mr Dunstan described as New Zealand’s leading convention city, appeared to have just four venues when there were more than 30 significant venues. “It therefore undersells the city and does not have the good sense to state that only some venues are represented,” he said.

He was also critical of the map, spread over four pages, which had Ashburton, Te Anau, and Queenstown incorrectly positioned “by quite large distances.”

Other publications he criticised included “Percival’s New Zealand Tourist Guide for Canterbury,” which he said contained poor quality photographs that gave the impression that they had been taken in heavy fog, and a New Zealand Christmas card which he said depicted fallen trees in Hagley Park.