CRITICAL VISITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23277, 21 February 1939, Page 11

CRITICAL VISITOR

TOUR ARRANGEMENTS ■ ■' BUREAU PLANS GO WRONG DISSATISFACTION EXPRESSED [by TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Monday Dissatisfaction with the arrangements made by the Government Tourist Bureau for his tour of the North Island was expressed by Mr. A. L. Backwell, a Geelong city councillor, before be left Wellington this evening by the Awatea on his way back to Australia. He and a companion arrived at Auckland last week and spent six days touring the North Island, visiting Tauranga, Rotorua and Hawke's Bay. "Our tour was arranged for us by the Government Tourist Bureau," Mr. Backwell said. "I suppose you would call it arranged. About 80 per cent of the arrangements went wrong. When they gave us this" (he exhibited an embossed leather ticket and itinerary wallet), "in Melbourne we expected from the appearance of it that there must be something pretty good behind it, but we were disappointed. Since it was just two men travelling on their own, it was not as bad as it might have been, but I do not know what we should have done if we had had womenfolk with us." Error at the Outset Mr. Backwell said that in the first place the itinerary started six hours before the boat arrived in Auckland. Tho Awatea made port at 1.10 p.m„ on February 13, 10 minutes after her expected but the two travellers found they we're supposed to have left. Auckland for Tauranga at nine o'clock that morning. They had to put off their departure until next day. When they reached Tauranga they were not expected there and found that their reservations had been cancelled. The hotel authorities, however, went to considerable pains to accommodate them. Next the service car by which they were booked to travel omitted to call and the tourist authorities at Tauranga were not prepared to do anything about it. Finally they were obliged to hire a taxi to get to Rotorua. They were quite surprised to find they were expected there. During their stay at Rotorua, Mr. Backwell continued, they visited the local tourist bureau office four times, each time to rectify an error in arrangements. The officers of the bureau were always very courteous and obliging. Fourth-class Hotel Everything went smoothly until they reached Napier, where they were put up in a fourth-class hotel. At Wellington they received the best treatment of their entire trip. They were expected at tho hotel and made comfortable, but when they went to present their receipts for their return tickets at the tourist bureau they found that the Auckland district manager had inad-1 vertentlv addressed the slip to himself. Mr. Backwell said they had, in spite of all this, greatly enjoyed the tour and had been deeply impressed by what they had seen. However, it would be impossible for them to recommend such service to their friends in Australia. Unsatisfactory and unreliable arrangements robbed travel of a great deal of its pleasure.