THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1930. OUR SCENIC ASSETS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20991, 2 April 1930, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1930. OUR SCENIC ASSETS.

The eulogies passed upon our lake and mountain scenery by Dr Gould, of the American Antarctic expedition, must be gratifying to the people of this part <?£ New Zealand. Other visitors to our shores have not been less sparing in their praise of these,, things, but fresh testimony on the subject from observers well qualified to pass opinions and make comparisons must always be welcome. Dr Gould would, however, chasten us for our own good. And perhaps he is a little severe on the people of the South Island when he offers the picturesque suggestion tfiat they should be “ kicked all over the place ” for allowing such magnificence of lake and mountain scenery to blush unseen and unknown. There is possibly more of native modesty among the .people of the southern portion of New Zealand than among those of the northern portion, and no doubt distinctly more than there is in the people of some other countries, where the art of national advertising has been well developed. But if the scenery of the South Island does blush unseen and unknown it is not altogether because there has been no voice raised in our midst to proclaim its glories, or because of any conspicuous lack of will to commend and proclaim them far and wide. . Our scenery is not “ boosted ” enough, says Dr Gould, using a word of American origin to which significance may attach that, is, perhaps, not always entirely acceptable. Must wc then become “ boosters M of our possessions in the most complete sense of the term, bent on being Heard, at any cost in the market places where the babel of competition for attention and for customers is loudest? It is doubtful if people who have the' deepest sense of scenic beauties could ever become successful “ boosters ” of them. In any case the British way is not quite the American way in such matters —it tends to be more restrained and less highpitched, this being the effect, doubtless, of national temperament. But, apart from such'reflections, the general soundness of Dr Gould’s advice is not less admissible than the excellence of its intention. Tourist traffic should be a greater asset to this Dominion than it is. But that is not to say that there may not be more than one point Af view worth taking into consideration in such a connection.

In. a vigorous letter which we publish tliis morning, urging the adoption of more enterprising methods in the advertising o£ this country’s scenic attractions, Mr G. Stuart Thomson speaks of the hostility of a certain section of the public to the development of tourist traffic. He names Sir Francis Bell as the leader among those who would discourage activities in that direction. Whether or not Sir Francis would wish to repudiate that distinction, he has certainly been frank in expressing his views upon the question at issue, and in Parliament last session protested against what he referred to as “ this abominable demand for the advent of tourists to provide Nelv Zealand with wealth.” Switzerland

he spoke of as an. example for tins Country to avoid, and in brief bis advocacy was largely on the lines of New Zealand for the New Zealanders, and of discouragement of a too eager hospitality to strangers based on anticipation of benefits to come, and of activities designed to attract visitors who would provide nothing towards the revenue, and whose money, he suggested, would benefit no other classes than the publican, the photographer, and the taxi driver. It is possible to have a certain sympathy with the view taken by Sir Francis Bell, while yet resisting it. Tourist traffic as a national industry must tend to vulgarise a country and to react upon the independence of its people. But New Zealand is far removed from any danger point in that connection, and would still be far removed from it were the volume of her tourist traffic doubled or quadrupled. It may even be a fortunate circumstance for New Zealand that, being so magnificently blest with scenic beauties, she occupies geographically an isolated position and is not too easily accessible to well-to-do people from other lands whose chief preoccupation in life is to travel about, and, with a maximum of comfort, behold the wonders of the world. Dr Gould says there are thousands of people in America looking for a place like New Zealand. Had he said millions there might be some cause for uneasiness. But our spaces are not threatened. And inasmuch as there is not the least risk of New Zealand being overrun by globe trotters the Tourist Department can safely increase its expenditure of energy and resource in making it known abroad that this Dominion has much to offer the traveller, A country that would be considered progressive cannot afford to neglect one of its important assets.