TOURIST BUREAU

Hokitika Guardian, 7 August 1934, Page 6

TOURIST BUREAU

riTt*' y;'j • - i ! •. *• ! t ■ FRENCH? VISITORS’ APPROVAL. NEW %AILAXD'Si LICENSING LAWS

! 'CHRLSTCHUROH, August 4. ■'piiffiifee fpr the iNew Zealand Gov-ernment"--'-T.ourist ]-Bui'ea-u and par-'f-iciildrly "'f-Or its Sydney branch, was expressed ' fast evening by Mr Axei (Lund,' . of' Paris, [ who is visiting Christchur ch. Mr I Lund is agent for the famous French perfumery firm of -Lentherie, Paris, and travels continuously on his firm’s business, having •juist completed a t-our of the East and /Australia.

“When I was in Sydney,” he said “I, went to the Sydney office of your tourist department and asked for information about the cost of visiting New Zealand- I called there about 11.30 a.hi. By 4 o’clock that afternoon I had received full details abbut the who handled the type of goods 1 wa, s interested in, about trade possibilities, about steamer routes and fates and hotels, as well as a full itinerary“ worked out for the time I Wes prepared to stay. For the first time in 10 years I accepted an inclusive tour and I hvae. been extremely satisfied with the result.” Mr Lund found two principal objections- to Now . Zealand from the point of view of ; tourists, and Continental tourists in particular. The first was the restriction on the hours during which drinks m~,y, ibe bought, and the second was the lack of good cheap wine. He thinks that New Zealand’s liquor laws must seem very inconvenient to the average tourist, who is accustomed in England or on the Continent to being able to buy drinks at almost any time .up to midnight.

'“When yon are on a holiday,” he remarked, “you want to be able to enjoy yourself. You do not want to be bothered by restrictions that you do not understand and which seem grange land unnecessary. (In ’New Zealand; too, you have old-fashioned customs about the hours for meals. ■cAhrbad (you can dine anywhere rip to '9 o’clock, but here, on Sundays for example, you cannot get a meal „j,nftor about 7 o’clock. If you want to attract tourists you must conform to their habits a little.”