TOURIST PROSPECTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26241, 27 August 1946, Page 4

TOURIST PROSPECTS

PUBLICISING DUNEDIN COMMON POLICY PUNNED ’ Action to correlate the publicity activities of organisations in Dunedin which are interested in attracting tourist trade to Otago was taken at a meeting yesterday of the Dunedin Development Council. It was stated that tourist traffic would increase threefold as soon as travel facilities returned to normal, and that Otago should be prepared to receive visitors in much greater numbers than in pre-war times. The meeting was attended by the Mayor, Mr D. C. Cameron, who presided, and Messrs H. McDowell Smith, T. C. Somerville, J. R. Fairbairn, L. M. Wright, W. R. Clarke, Carl V. Smith, G. J. Errington, P. O. Smellie, R. D. Stewart, W. P. Hartstonge, R. A. Johnston, and M. S. Myers. The question of advertising Dunedin’s tourist attractions throughout New Zealand was . introduced by a deputation from the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, comprising Messrs A. V. Gain, Ernest J. Smith, and W. J. Winefield. Individual organisations in Dunedin had done excellent work in publicising the city, Mr Gain said, but it was considered that a united effort would be opportune in view of the extent of the tourist trade which could be expected as soon as world conditions returned to normal. Pre-war Peak

Twelve months before the war, Mr Gain said, New Zealand reached a peak in overseas tourist interest. It was estimated that there were 10.000 visitors ,to the Dominion in the year immediately before the outbreak v of war, and if the average expenditure were taken as £2OO, that represented an income to the Dominion of £2,000,000. New Zealand’s war effort and the presence here of so many American servicemen had been a great advertisement, and it was safe to assume that tourist traffic would be trebled in the next few years. Dunedin would have to be prepared, and it was suggested that co-operative action should be set in train immediately to publicise Dunedin’s attractions. Mr Gain commended the work of this nature that had been done by the Otago Expansion League. The league had done what it could. Mr Errington said, and its work had been successful, but it was limited by financial considerations. ' Ignorance of Dunedin

A scheme which included the preparation of a folder for distribution in New Zealand, particularly in the North Island, was outlined by Mr Smith. There was much ignorance in New Zealand concerning Dunedin’s weather and general atmosphere, he said. That was an impression which was dispelled by a visit to Otago' but it was widely current among people who had never been to Dunedin, and he thought that Dunedin people were not free from responsibility for it. They were not sufficiently vigorous in refuting it. The whole question of tourist traffic was still developing on national lines, Mr Fairbairn said. He agreed that Dunedin should “ tackle it in a big way.”

The Wrong Approach

When the financing of folders such as Mr Smith had suggested was discussed, Mr Carl Smith suggested that Dunedin organisations often set about such enterprises from the wrong angle. “ We worry too much about getting the money first,” he said. “We should decide whether the scheme is worthwhile. If it is, then we should go ahead with it and the money would be found.” He supported the adoption of a campaign to distribute folders illustrating Otago’s attractions and giving information to intending visitors.

On the suggestion of the Mayor, it was decided that the council should convene a conference of representatives of various Dunedin bodies with a view to co-ordinating publicity-ac-tivities and adopting a common policy of making the attractions of the city more- widely known.