TOURIST INDUSTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22329, 1 August 1934, Page 7

TOURIST INDUSTRY

A BUSINESS PROPOSITION NEW ZEALAND’S OPPORTUNITY T*R&-EMINENT ; AHR^tIbNS (Special to Dailt Times.) AUCKLAND, July SI. 1 The. necessity - for remodelling the Tourist'Department along the lines of the Railways Department so as to. give;scope for business organisation in- the development of. New Zealand's tourist industry was stressed by Mr H. H. Sterlihg, chairman ;of the Railways • Board, in an address at the Auckland . Travel 'Club’s luncheon; Miss Jean Batten was the guest of honour. There ‘ was much 'concern ■in : New Zealand . to-day over: the possible restriction of exports, Mr Sterling said. It had been thought that the Dominion could produce ad infinitum and still have her goods absorbed by Great Britain. ' Even v if: prediction were curtailed, it would be impossible' for New Zealand to stand still without the. risk of stagnation. It was necessary to face" up to the position, and, 1 while. qjjdeavouring . to/ obtain the best bargain possible for the primary .producers, to exploit other avenues as well. Few 1 countries ’in the world were better endowed by Nature than-New Zealand. .There was a delightful climate, and in addition'pre-eminent attractions 1 of appeal' to tourists, all within a comparatively small'area,. The encouragement of a greater volume of tourist traffic with Which New Zealand was equipped by Nature to deal would mean an immense gain in revenue! ■ 1 ’ “ Some of ' you probably feel ■'that; .we have a travel industry here,’ 1 Mr Sterr ling said, “and it may come as a shock when X say that we have nothing 1 of the kind.' Industry implies organisation, and. although we Have a number of isolated units in the travel and tourist business, we have, no pre-eminent .body to determine objectives and to influence a common line of action. , That is our. pgtstantliug defect. To develop a travel industry we must establish some organisation Which Will bind the units together. In Australia there is still ample., room for development along these lines,', but they have the; germ of the_ idea of co-ordination in the Australian National; Travel: .Association'. Its activities are largely confined to publicity work, but we in New: Zealsrid must go further than that. ‘The Tourist Department must be the nucleus ..of .any new travel organisation, ih the Dominion, and the change I would advocate, is the commercialising of - that .department on the lines of the Railways Department; In the past it has been, allied;more With the functions of the Government, than with the functions of business, -and: the Government outlook is .traditionally .con: servative and unimaginative. Government officials are not concerned with getting people into their offices, but-with getting them out. In business -it; is exactly the opposite. The first essential of the tourist business is to get- more -people into New Zealand. . The training of a public servant is fatal to anyone concerned in the running of business;' We have got to forget that the Tourist Department is a department of State and make it a department of business. There must he room for speculative effort. If the- Railways Board a year or so. ago had not come out with a . few speculations in the shape of “ mystery hikes and excursion* I hate to think what would have, happened, to our passenger traffic. We completely turned the tide,.and as a result we. have people railway-minded again. In putting' forward : these views' I want to make, it perfectly clear that,l am of- the opinion that We, have in New • Zealand a public -service of which We can, well be proud. However, I. also hold'that if we can change; the psychology of the Tourist Department we shall be in' a fail way 'to develop - the ’ organisation of a larger tourist traffic.' , At'present the last' say ■ ins matters, of .policy rests: with the and he must perforce ;,be influenced by ..political rather than; business ' considerations. I do not suppose there was ever a Minister'of ..Railway ß who did not come into; office with the determination to run;his department: a» a Business' undertaking; ;but --it never finished up ;that way.: The’ failure was hot the result of ahy lack: of. goodwill or sincerity. ’ The syatem beat them. “ The' analogy ...of the. Tourist and Railways Departments is perfect in the case of the Tourist Department,” Mr Sterling continued. The Minister probably bad other' departments-Vto' attend t 0.,; -The present bead , was also the Minister! of Employment; so ’ that, the ' tourist business with-'- him ;had'..oK><!ceaiffi! ! .'.ttf be very much: of a • sideline, jHe had no opportunity to do justice to; his, job; “My own view is- that- if the Tourist Department Were, brought under commercial organisation, we should! be able to cover the whole field.” \ Mr Sterling said New. Zealand slope could , make only a small -impression on the world’s. tourist, traffic, so they.must carry their organisation beyond : _ t?uP r own’shores and link np With similar bodies ,in other countries. “It is' ex: traordinary he ; said,, ‘“ that we. nave not been able to make a greater-impres-sion. on the. Australian market; Kilt apart from 1 that ’we tnfist also consider Australia as ;a partner in the tourist business. V Geographically, _ New Zealand is insignificant. Australia, on .the other hand, has a definite geographic' significance. and if We - could link her; geographical pre-eminence with our preeminent tourist .attractions we could make a very marked impression on the world’s travel. Australia ie at present competing with Ug in. the tourist field.; What we want is . co-operation. Affairs' in Europe are affecting travel. - The tourist traffic in France jg practically dead:, Ihe people of; the Old W'orld, and of , the United States are looking for new things, and are turning more toward the, wonders of Nature.;. A big forward; movement now by New Zealand,: in association with other tourist countries of the Pacific, would .probably bring result* which would surprise every one of us. lam confident that, properly handled and properly organised, the ;tourist.' traffic can _hclp;,ns out of our i present economic difficultly. It can help in, wiping, out .the barrier* of nationalism and make; things better, npt only for ourselves; but also tor those who come ;after ns” . : •' 1 "■ -