TOURIST TRAFFIC.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 31 December 1924, Page 6

TOURIST TRAFFIC.

MORE ADVERTISING REQUIRED. TO POPULARISE RESORTS. The Railway Commission is of the opinion that, .by judicious advertising, the tourist traffic of the Dominion could be extended . considerably. In their report the Commissioners state: It should be possible to extend this traffic very considerably by judicious arrangement and advertisement. No yearly or seasonable general programme has hitherto been published. The beauty spots of New Zealand are known more or less the world over, but facilities for 1 reaching them are by no means as convenient or as well advertised as they might be. The Tourist Bureau and the railway administration working in close co-operation, spending freely in advertisements and more still upon convenient train services, should in the course of two or three years make the tourist and excursion, traffic avery valuable addition to railway revenue. The New Zealand elimate in summer, in conjunction with convenient transport facilities, might be expected to prove attractive to Australian tourists, but visitors from that direction can only be secured through attractive advertisement, preferably in conjunction with steamship companies. When excursions are advertised the records show that the, public respond, especially in the South Island; and we suggest that more frequent opportunities should be given, with faster trains, not' only to aqd from tourist centres, but also between one tQwn and mother. It lias been urged that in the latter case, traffic at ordinary fares is jeopardised, but experience has proved. that on balance there is great gain. A fast train at excursion fares, one day in the. middle of each week, leaving in the morning and returning at night, from country stations to the nearest town, lias been found a profitable arrangement, and we suggest that experiment should be fiutde im direction. Only b} 1 - testing tile possibilities of new traffic can the full value of railway facilities be gauged. In view bf road motor every avenue should be explored. We refer to tile effect of cheap fares in another section.

Reservation of seats and sleeping berths must of necessity bo concentrated in one office at the-starting point of .the trains, and unless great care be taken in the registration of applications there i§ risk of disappointment and dispute. Tourist offices and stareceiving inquiries should make certain by communication with the central registration office that all is in order before promising a sleeping berth or a scat. There lias occasionally been some trouble in this connection. There would appear to be reason in the request that seats should be reserved for journeys of 50 miles and upwards. The issue of platform tickets through a machine situated in the booking office is the usual form of meeting the application at Auckland for access, by friends of passengers, to the platform, and this we recommend. The idea of issuing platform season tickets, as atTimaru, is also worthy of extension. All stations being open and tickets collected upon trains 'means constant examination of tickets upon long journeys, . causing irritation to passengers, especially at night. We recommend that at the larger stations the platforms- be enclosed and tickets collected at the doors. This may mean some increase of staff at the stations, but it should be more: satisfactory from a public point of view as well as to the Department. A label indicating sleeping berth passengers’‘destination would also be a convenience, and obviate the waking up of passengers unnecessarily. The fares should be printed upon the tickets, as we understand was formerly the practice.

The parcels traffic on the New Zealand railways is a considerable one. For the year 1923 receipts were £304,306. The present method of issuing consignment notes and waybills, as in the ease of goods traffic, necessitates a great deal of clerical labour and delay, both at the despatching and receiving stations.

We are of the opinion that'-epnsjder-abfe economy would result in the adoption Of the stamps system, as used in England and elsewhere. Under this system paresis up to a determined value are not waybilled, adhesive stamps to the value of the freight being affixed to the parcels. Travelling inspectors are employed to keep a cheek upon the work performed, and in practice it is found that eflnsiderable advantages accrue by its use. We recommend that the Railway Department should take steps to bring this system into operation.