OUR TOURIST TRAFFIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13762, 29 May 1908, Page 8

OUR TOURIST TRAFFIC.

Mr.. R. AXGCS. the New Zealand manager of Messrs. Thos. Cook and Sons, states that the tourist season, at present drawing to a close, has been a very satisfactory one. more particularly with regard to the ocean-travel department. It was uoticealfc- that New Zealanders were moving about seeing the beau-, lies of their own land to a much greater extent than was the case a few years back. The larger number of oversea visitors to New Zealand had been Australians, and in this connection there seemed - to him to lave been a regrettable absence of visitors from America or hona-fide tourists from other countries. For this the discontinuance of the' Oceanic Company's San Francisco service was, possibly, mainly responsible: the Canadian-Australian line with the ten days' transhipment delay at Fiji which was involved in travelling by it to New Zealand, was not. of course, in the Dominion's tourist interests, passengers frequently preferring to go on by the main line to Sydney. In Mr. Angus' opinion it would considerably improve matters if Queensland dropped her interest in this line, so that the Dominion would he in a position to arrange with the company to make one of the New Zealand. ports a "direct port of call. During the past season the scarcity of oversell visitors to the Cold Lakes district and the West Coast had been more noticeable than in the North, where the thermal attractions always claimed the attention of tourists. Mount Cook as a tourist resort had shown increased popularity recently owing to improved and rapid communication by motor-car.

Asked whether tourists found New Zealand up to their expectations, Mr. Angus replied that few indeed went away other than surprised, and all were most enthusiastic over the. grandeur and wealth of the Dominion's varied scenic and health resorts.