AGGOMMGDATION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 44, 21 August 1939, Page 10

AGGOMMGDATION

EXHIBITION PERIOD

BOOKING LIGHT TO DATE

BUREAU PREPARED

There are many phases of the problem of accommodating visitors to the I Centennial Exhibition, but from'what ! could be gathered today there will b"£ 'no real, shortage when all is veady. To begin with, one of the features ,af I the accommodation offered by the Ceti- ! Itennial Exhibition Accommodation I (Bureau in Featherston Street is that 95 per cent, of the 5000 beds it has arranged for already' have never previously been available to the public, but are in private homes. This will leave the private hotels, 'boardinghouses, and licensed hotels untouched, and all these have to some .. extent j "double-banked" by putting in extra I | beds. Then there are the two private j (hotels specially erected for the' Exhibition in Kilbirnie, which between them will hold over 700 people. It is, tv fact, estimated that, with exchange' between families, and the number c-t people who will come as friends or relatives (if there.is any distinction?) there will be room without unpleasant overcrowding for 20.000 extra people. This figure may De exceeded at the peak of the invasion, but the peak will ; necessarily be brief, because the ave(rage wage-earner has to take his holi- | day at the same time of the year, usually from Christmas to the end of January. . ~'-.■ Transport to- Wellington during the period between Christmas and the end of-February will, present "a problem, but it is being well catered for as far as the railways are concerned. Trans port by rail is. in fact, guaranteed on any day during, the currency of the Exhibition, the Department having made special arrangements to cope with many thousands more than usual. ' It is booking seats now for the earlier days of. the. Exhibition, and with the extra rolling stock being constructed, •will have no difficulty in conveying everybody to and from Wellington. The Union Steam Ship Company will not commence bookings until September, "but it'is anticipated by the company that the services.it contemplates providing will be ! IT WON'T HAPPEN HERE The failure, of the New York.World's : Fair, as-cabled-recently, was due, it is stated, to several features. One was j the grip racketeers obtained on the big (Show. Exhibitors who did not pay "graft" got nothing done, and in the end the disgust at the tremendous cost of-erecting exhibits was such that one State, Nevada, pulled put of the exhibition altogether. Towards the end fear got such a hold of all who were capable, of contributing to the racket-j eers'. demands that the show in itself was a "flop." Then again, everyone in New York, raised prices, especially | for,accommodation and. meals, to such i an extent that, when it got round, the influx from outside New York was negligible. The management had raised the price of'admission 50 per cent.,.and New Yorkers themselves.did not greatly patronise the, show. The attendance while the troubles were at their; worst did not average 200,000 a day—for New /ork! There will be nothing like that here. On the workmen's side, effort has accompanied efficiency, while what. is being, done to assure accommodation should ease what promised to be a difficulty. REASONABLE CHARGES. ! The Accommodation Bureau advises that its charges for. quarters in private i homes of the quality that will make ! visitors',stay pleasant range from 6s 6d to 12s 6d per person per day for bed and breakfast or tray, the average-rate being 8s 6d per day, and it also has a limited number of beds with breakfast from £2 to £3 per' week. This, of , course, will be exceeded by the [licensed hotels, and by the better class of private boarding-house. The bureau j i does not pretend -in any way to 32t charges for anyone', but from, inquiries made regarding the results of private j advertisements-' for. accommodation! from'outside Welington. it does not j seem as though private parsons are %o- : ing to "gouge" visitors. Out of a dozen j : replies to an advertisement, prices j ranged from.7s 6d to 10s 6d per day. for ! bed and bi-eakfest or tray, and one famjily in a very handy position to the Exhibition offered accommodation to a couple, with breakfast, separate conveniences, and complete privacy, for £3 10s each, and this for a week at Christmas! ; This, again, cannot be held as setting any standards, but it does show, in addition to the experience of the bureau, which has secured. 5000 beds at very reasonable prices, that families in Wellington who for the first time will take in boarders, chiefly to assist the success of the Exhibition, and the credit of the city, are not out for excessive profits. It is interesting to note that- the 5000 beds were secured with- . out any house-to-house canvass. Only, those people who offer accommodation to the bureau are visited, and that . purely to see that the accommodation: . particularly in regard to conveniences ' and privacy, is of the desired type. Its? ' lady representative visits every house ; where acommodation is offered, but has not yet succeeded in getting round them all. The bureau makes no charge '•■ to the occupiers' of the houses, but ' takes 2s from each visitor for whom it j I thus • finds accommodation. i