ABNORMAL BOOKINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 28

ABNORMAL BOOKINGS.

EXHIBITION TOURIST AND RAILWAY BUREAU. A total of tourist and railway bookings that has exoeoded the most optimistic expectations of the officers in the New Zea land Railway and Tourist Bureau ha s been made since the Exhibition opened on No vember 17. On Friday interesting statistics relating to the business that has been done by the ioint. departments in the vestibule bureau of the New Zoaland Government Pavilion were made available, and both Mr A. M'Neil (railway business agent), and Mr R. W Marshall (tourist agent) who are in charge of the various braiches of the bureau expressed their delight at the way in which tourists and visitors generally nad availed themselves of the facilities that are offered by the only combined office in tho country. Mr M'Neil supported his comments with figures that speak for themselves. “The railway revenue at the Bureau since the Exhibition opened has amounted

to £2587,” he said. "Besides this amount the tourist revenue is £2500.” “We have reeervod 7451 seats on the railways: 900 tours have been arranged, and of these 370 have been to the Southern Lakes. In all 680 steamer bookings have been arranged.” ‘The business done has exceeded our best expectations, and I feel that we will conHnue these high figures up to the time the Exhibition closed. When Logan Park °P? I l e I ordered 3000 reservation tickets thinking that no more would bo required, instead we have doubled this figure already. The great advantage of the Bureau 19 that we can give a more comprehensive service to travellers than any individual railway or tourist office in the country. ** Mr Marshall added that one of thd biggest outstanding results of the Exhibition as far as tourist traffic was concerned was the great boost that had been given to the Queenstown and Lakes trip. It wa* estimated that records of previous years for trip 8 to those districts had been exceeded this year by at least 1000, and as each visitor spent from £7 to £lO, the financial benefits were great. A large number of North Island residents were making their first trip to Queenstown and the Lakes. A few days ago, of a party of 70 visitors who made the trip to Paradise at the head of Lake Wakatipu, 50 were North Islanders seeing the lake for the first time. Many were also travelling through the various beauty spots of the South Island on tho way home, and mak ing the trip to Wellington on the Tama nine from Picton.