ROUND THE WORLD

Southland Times, Issue 19720, 28 November 1925, Page 5

ROUND THE WORLD

AMERICAN VISITORS IN NEW ZEALAND. SHOULD ADVERTISE MORE. At present touring New Zealand are eight American visitors who are on a comprehensive tour, their itinerary embracing South Sea Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, South Africa, East Africa, Egypt and France. The party, said Mr Kelly, one of the members, left San Francisco on October 7 last and so far had enjoyed the tour immensely. They had visited Mount Cook and found the scenery there equal to the best to be seen in any of the renowned tourist resorts of the world. He had had twenty years’ experience in conducting tourist parties, but this was the first time he had been to New Zealand. The attractions of New Zealand, one of the party said, were not sufficiently advertised in America and he had no hesitation in saying that if this Dominion, with its unrivalled scenic and other attractions, were better known in America it would attract very many wealthy American tourists. The fact was that they knew very little about New Zealand in America; the average American thought it was a little place—they did not exactly know where—inhabited by savages. A good deal had been done recently to dispel this ignorance through the pictures on New Zealand which were being shown by picture houses in America, but a great deal remained to be done. “We have the people with the money who want to travel, and you have just the kind of country they want to see,” said Mr Kelly, who added that the distance between New Zealand and America was nothing; the steamer service was quite satisfactory; the hotels here were good; the roads were very fair; the automobile service was first class, and the scenery was excellent. Yet in spite of all this, there was practically no publicity concerning New Zealand in America, and from the point of view of the Dominion, he thought this a great mistake.