Tourist Department Hopes For More House Licences

Northern Advocate, 14 July 1949, Page 6

Tourist Department Hopes For More House Licences

WELLINGTON, Thu. (P.A.). —The hope that one of the first amendments the Licensing Control Commission would recommend to existing legislation would allow the issue of more tourist house licences was expressed by counsel for the Government Tourist Department (Mr C. M. Irvine) in his concluding address to the commission today. . . He also recommended improvement of some of the existing hotels at Rotorua as a solution to some licensing problems in that area.

Mr Irvine asked for an early pronouncement about the issue of 23 tourist house licences that the commission had been authorised to allocate. He suggested this applied particularly to the four Government resorts—the Chateau Tongariro, Hotel Waitomo, Lake House (Waikaremoana) and Hotel Milford, the North Egmont Hostel, Fox Glacier Hostel and possibly the Lodge at Ilanmer, although, he said, objections that had been raised created a difficulty there. He also included the Marlborough Sounds area, although lie said there would be some difficulty in allotting a licence among the various applicants.

The thermal regions, mountains and bush of Westland and the Southern Lakes were rated as New Zealand’s major tourist attractions by Mr W. A. Bodkin, M.P., when he appeared to support an application for a tourist house licence for Lake House, Lake Hawea.

“Only a limited number of licences can be granted, and I suggest, that makes it the more imperative that consideration should be given the tourist areas of national importance,” said Mr Bodkin.

“I mean those areas which are likely to make a contribution to the national income by attracting overseas exchange," he continued. '‘lt is a fact that today the greatest need for this country is overseas exchange. “We have a serious adverse trade balance with Australia and the dollar position is really tragic. "In a situation like this individuals must be dismissed,’ he said.

Mr Bodkin suggested that, the commission would need to make a complete survey of New Zealand and grant licences to those areas that were likely to contribute to New Zealand’s overseas trade.

Evidence then was heard from Claude Charles Capped, proprietor oi Lake House. 'Proceeding)