THE TOURIST SEASON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3853, 17 January 1928, Page 25

THE TOURIST SEASON.

HEAVY BOOKINGS REPORTED.

OVERSEAS TRAFFIC INCREASING.

AUCKLAND, January»l3. ' There is every prospect that the number of oversea tourists visiting New Zealand this season will create a record. Large numbers are already visiting the Dominion, and all the mail steamers arriving from overseas ports during the next three months are expected to be well filled with tpurists. Australia is mainly responsible for this increase. During last year tourist propaganda was widely distributed in the Commonwealth, and apparently it has not fallen on barren soil. Bookings from Australia have been usually heavy, and a pleasing feature is that the majority of these tourists are making tours of three weeks or more.

The annual influx from England, the Continent, and America has not yet commenced in earnest, but the next two months should see the arrival of a large number of English and American tourists. The sword-fishing season for overseas visitors is not yet at its height. It is generally considered that these fish are to be found in large numbers off the New Zealand coast toward the end of January. Travel within the Dominion so far this season is not likely to create a record, but bookings should compare favourably with those of previous years. This is not an indication, however, that the number of New Zealand people on .the move is not greater. Neither the Tourist Department nor the Railways Department has any record of the ever-increasing numbers which leave city homes in motor cars and spend their days and nights under canvas.