TOURIST RESORTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 26

TOURIST RESORTS.

NEGLECT OF SOUTH ISLAND. .• MR B. M. WILSON’S CHALLENGE. CHRISTCHURCH, March 8. At a meeting of the executive of the - Canterbury Progress League, a letter ■was received from Mr B. M. Wilson, ' general manager of the Tourist Depart- _ tnent, denying that the South Island was neglected in the preparation of itineraries. The letter adds: “To end this matter and give yoa a straight-out challenge to prove your statement, if you can show, - to the satisfaction of the Minister of the Public Sei vice Commissioner that any responsible officer of the Tourist Department has advised visitors not to go to ' the South Island, as there was tittle or . nothing to see there, or has in any other way tried to divert the tourist traffic from the South Island, I shall call upon that officer to resign. More than that, . I shall send in my papers'at the same time. This challenge is contingent on ’ your placing your position on the other side of the scales.” Members of the executive expressed surprise at the tone of the letter, and a motion was carried approving of the action taken by the Special Committee in protesting at the discrimination “ against the South Inland.

REPLY BY MR D. REESE. CHRISTCHURCH, March 8. Replying to Mr Wilson, Mr Dan Reese says in a letter:— “ I must confess that the tone of your letter surprises me very much, coming from one holding such a responsible position. Your own reputation and the esteem in which you are held precludes anybody for a moment suggesting that you personally would contribute to the cause of the South Island’s complaint regarding tourist traffic, or that you would in any way encourage such a policy. So why take criticism *in such a personal manner?' There is no gainsaying the fact that the South Island has not had its fair share of the tourist traffic. Some people here suggest that sinister influences are at work in the Far North, but 1 think the reasons are to be found in natural causes. It is astonishing how few South Island people have been to Rotorua, and how few North Island people have been to Mount Cook, and so if your officers in the North, and particularly in Australia, are not men who Jtnow the scenic wonders of the South Island, then it is easily explained why the Rotorua district gets such preference.”

FIRST-HAND EVIDENCE. CHRISTCHURCH, March 8. Mr K. W. Robinson, of Christchurch, has written to Mr P. R. Climie as fol-

lows in connection with Mr Wilson’s challenge:—“ In October, 1925, my wife and I visited Wairakei. Whilst staying at the Geyser Hotel we made the acquaintance of a fairly large party of American tourists. On inquiring whether the party intended to visit the South Island we were informed that they had intended to come to the South Island; but at the Tourist Office in Auckland they were informed that there was nothing worth seeing in the South Island, anc to get to Christchurch they .vould have to put up with a very unpleasant trip in a “ horrible little ferry steamer.” We were so annoyed at learning of this that we paid particular attention to the subject with a considerable number of the Americans, and found that they had all been .diverted from their intended visit to the South Island by this information.” Mr Robinson incidentally supplies the names of five of the persons concerned who arrived at Auckland by the Vancouver steamer in September, 1925.