TOURIST AFFAIRS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18918, 21 January 1936, Page 2

TOURIST AFFAIRS

CONFERENCE PLANNED LOCAL BODIES' SHARE An Auckland provincial conference, of tourist interests has been arranged for Tuesday, February 4, in the Chamber of Commerce Hall. The Mew Zealand Tourist League has organised the gathering, which is the first of the kind h<?ld in Auckland for 10 years, although three Dominion conferences have been held in the last decade. The conference was to have been held earlier, but changes in the political world led to its postponement. > A'" The Minister in charge of Tourist and Health Resorts, the Hon. F. Langstone, is to be present, and the general manager of the Tourist Department, Mr. L. J. Schmitt, will address the conference on the policy and activities of the department. One of the matters to be discussed is the co-operation of local body and Government authorities in publicity for the Dominion. So far there has been no really concerted action in this respect. Local bodies are restricted in their powers of expenditure on publicity to mediums that have been specifically authorised by the Minister of Internal Affairs. It is now suggested that an amendment to the Rating Act Shall be agreed upon by the municipal bodies so that rate money may be allocated for publicity by those areas that specially cater for tourist traffic, or which benefit by travel expenditure. In order to have the matter fully examined, the league has invited all the local bodies to send delegates to meet those from chambers of commerce, progress leagues, transport and accommodation groups. Proposals to secure more efficient joint action by State and private interests are scheduled for discussion, and a number of issues of importance to different localities will be raised. The Tourist Department is to arrange an exhibit of its newest publicity booklets and posters for the informalion of delegates. As this Is the first conference on tourist matters since the advent of the Labor Government, it is expected that it will help to lay the foundation of a tourist policy for the next couple of years.