The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1925. “SEE SOUTHLAND.”

Southland Times, Issue 19461, 28 January 1925, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1925. “SEE SOUTHLAND.”

Never before has such a unique opportunity presented itself of boosting Southland as occurs this year, when the Dunedin Exhibition will attract to the South thousands upon thousands of visitors intent upon seeing all they can of this magnificently endowed portion of the Dominion. In this boosting business, we should not be retarded by a misplaced modesty, nor by a lack of enterprise. We should plan a publicity campaign bold in its conception, far reaching in its influence, attractive and appealing in its call and resounding throughout the Dominion and far beyond its confines with the powerful slogan: See Southland. Other parts of New Zealand, notably Auckland, which have been blessed by Nature in the beauty or the grandeur of their scenery, either lose no chance of proclaiming their delights to the curious or have no need to do so, the charms lying so close to the main highways of traffic that advertisment to them would be superfluous. Not so in Southland. Our resorts must be advertised and wrong impressions removed. The province is rich in the greatness of its scenic attractions. All that a man might see in different countries—the mountains and lakes of Switzerland, the fiords of Norway, the streams of Scotland—are combined in it in a little space with the glory

of luxuriant bush to boot. Then, all the sports that can be followed in the most distant countries can be enjoyed in close proximity to each other among our alpine heights, our deer and moose-sheltering forests and our salmon 'and trout-stocked rivers. But who knows the glories and charms and natural advantages of Southland? Familarity with us has bred the conventional contempt, and we are prone to under-rate the superb asset at our very doors. It wants and demands exploitation and advertisement. This latent source of wealth must be developed, and now is the opportune time to do so. We should get busy and advertise our wares, so that people, in making their itinerary for the Exhibition tour, will be induced to visit Southland. In a pamphlet which the Auckland authorities have recently issued, it is shown that tourists last year spent £66,000,000 in Switzerland, £100,000,000 in France, and in Honolulu, while American sightseers alone are computed to have left behind them in Europe £140,000,000. These mammoth figures afford striking demonstration of the value of this traffic. The Tourist Department itself computes that every tourist who visits New Zealand leaves a sum of at least £lOO behind him, possibly very much more. Southland unfortunately, has only been visited by a very small proportion of these travellers from overseas, so that we have reaped nothing like a result commensurate with the extraordinary attractions we have to offer. Propaganda—active, incisive and well-directed—would be the best business Southland could embark upon as an addition to its normal activities The goal should be well within reach, even if the cost be £lOOO or more. All that is needed is judicious advertising. We must let the tourists know that here in Southland is one part of New Zealand, virtually unknown to them so far, that will be well worth their attention, providing as it does scenic allurements of an unrivalled magnificence and sporting facilities that have earned for it the title of “the Mecca of the Sportsman.” In these circumstances, people of the province will be untrue to their best interests if they do not embrace the golden opportunity now presenting itself and inaugurate a comprehensive, determined and conquering publicity campaign that will result in the province being prominently obtruded before overseas tourists and others so that in its operation, it will inevitably result in an unprecedented influx of people determined to: See Southland.