Tourism’s future is Asian, says M.P.

Press, 6 November 1986, Page 6

Tourism’s future is Asian, says M.P.

PA Palmerston North New Zealanders...would be better off learning Japanese than taha Maori, says- the' member of Parliament for Palmerston North, Mr Trevor de Cleene.

He told members of the Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association yesterday to expect most Of their future tourist business to come from Asia.

“It means, in my view, that we should all be taking a crash course in Japanese and not in taha Maori, although a lot of people in the Labour Party would not agree with me,” he said. The whole country

needed to make itself more attractive . to overseas visitors, he said. He listed liquor licensing laws and historic places trusts as things which stood in the way. "You can not get per-

mission in this country to build a hotel on a ski-field — now that is stupid,” Mr de Cleene said. He was trying to convince the Minister of Edu-

cation, Mr Marshall, that polytechnics should be training more young people in skills associated with the tourist industry. Bar staff and waiters had to be top quality, he said, but not “over the top.”