CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 4 June 1938, Page 8

CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION

INFLUX OF VISITORS ARRANGEMENTS FOR ACCOMMODATION (Special to Daily Times) WELLINGTON, June 3. Already consideration is being given to the question of accommodating the many thousands.of visitors who are expected to attend the 1940 centennial celebrations in Wellington. This is a serious problem in the city which is shown by a recent housing survey to be something like 7000 houses short of its own normal requirements. The special committee appointed by the directors of the Centennial Exhibition to deal with the matter is, however, stated to be confident that, with the co-operation of householders, the influx of sightseers can be satisfactorily accommodated, even with the facilities at present available. An indication of what can be done was that, when recently some 40 artisans were brought from the South Island to assist in the building operations at Lyall Bay, it was found possible to accommodate all of them within a few minutes of their work, in spite of the fact that already an even greater number of workmen were quartered in the immediate vicinity of the exhibition site.

A bureau will be set up shortly to control the accommodation available, and its first task will be to issue an appeal to householders willing and able to take paying guests, even if only one or two, to place on a roll their names and terms and details of the extent to which they can co-operate. In this way a census of the entire accommodation of the city for the billeting of visitors will be compiled. Hotels, boarding houses, and private hotels will, of course, be included on the bureau’s roll, and so it will be possible to gauge accurately the capacity of the city’s guest accommodation at any one time.

It is the object of the bureau to be able to supply to intending visitors full details of where they can stay, how much it will cost, and what class of fare they can expect before ever they leave home. In this way, there will be no likelihood of visitors amying in Wellington and having to try house after house before they can obtain bed and board for the night. All arrangements will be able to be made in advance and accommodation booked, and visitors will be able to go straight to the house and will know exactly what to expect. It is realised that the principal problem will be not to accommodate the overseas visitors, but to find board and lodgings for the hosts of New Zealanders who will come to attend the celebrations. Many as will undoubtedly be the numbers of travellers from abroad, they will certainly not outnumber the New Zealanders themselves and, if the pressure is relieved by as many as possible of the latter being accommodated otherwise, the' hotels will probably prove able to cope with foreign visitors. Boarding schools in the city and suburbs are being approached with the idea of checking what assistance, if any, can be expected from this source. It is thought that they may prove valuable by permitting the use of their facilities in vacations and at Easter, even if only to put up their own past pupils. The establishment of motor camps on the fringes of the city will also be exploited. This will at least provide for a large number of North Islanders who will drive down by road from various parts of the country. That the camps will perhaps be slightly less central than hotel accommodation will count for little for, to the motorist, access to the city, the exhibition and the sports grounds will be easy. It is pointed out by the Exhibition management that, to a great extent, the problem of accommodating the flood of visitors anticipated depends on the citizens of Wellington themselves and how readily they respond to the demands made upon their hospitality.