TOURISTS AND BUREAUX

Southland Times, Issue 23332, 16 October 1937, Page 8

TOURISTS AND BUREAUX

Canadian Visitor Complains RESORTS OF SOUTH ISLAND EXPERIENCES PROMPT CALL ON MINISTER “Personally I do not see why the Government Tourist Bureaux are operating. I have seen New Zealand. I have done 7000 miles by motor without the assistance of the bureaux. In my travels I have spoken to many American tourists, and have gathered from their conversation that they had not been encouraged to visit the South Island; and that they certainly had not been told of its beauties and attractions compared with those of the North Island.” This statement was made to The Press, Christchurch, by Miss M. Sykes, of Vancouver. Miss Sykes is well qualified to speak of tourist matters. Working for the Pathfinder Publishing Company, of Vancouver, she has visited most tourist attractions in Canada and the United States; she is in touch with all sources,of travel information and literature. Her experience of the Government bureaux in the Dominion on her present trip prompted her to call on the Minister in Charge of the Tourist and Publicity Department (the Hon. F. Langstone) whom she credits with a genuine desire to foster tourist traffic in New Zealand.

Certain of her comments were brief and direct, in answer to questions about her impressions. What had she been told at the Invercargill Government Bureau, where she asked about suitable week-end trips?—Nothing. How did the attractions of the North Island compare with those of the South Island?—They haven’t any in the North Island.

How much tourist publicity for New Zealand had she come across in Canada and the United States?—The publicity isn’t there at all. LITTLE ASSISTANCE “In Invercargill I dropped into the Government bureau to get information about week-end trips round Invercargill,” she said. “I came to the conclusion that there was not much to do. They gave me a lot of folders but they told me nothing. I decided to get my information from the local people, and I soon found that there were plenty of beauty spots within easy reach of Invercargill.’ She asked about accommodation at one place, and was told that the nearest house was 40 miles away; but she later discovered that there was a good accommodation house quite near. “I went to the Dunedin office in July, when I wanted information about getting to the Franz Josef glacier. I was accompanied to the office by two New Zealand friends. I found it practically impossible to get information. When I said I did not want to go by rail, but to drive myself, they suggested that I could go to the Automobile Association, and that they did not supply road maps. I left that office after 20 minutes’ conversation without even as much as a folder. “So I decided to abandon the Government Tourist Bureaux, and I was given, and have been given, more assistance, free of charge, by the automobile associations than by ■any other concern. I reported this to the department in Wellington later on, and they said they would look into it. They asked if I had spoken to the managers of the bureaux; but I felt that if there was a man there to give information it should not be necessary to go to the manager.

SOUTH ISLAND PREFERRED

“From a scenic standpoint, I think that the South Island is so far ahead of the North Island that I do not think there is any comparison,” said Miss Sykes. “In the South Island you have beauty spots on every hand; and in the North Island you travel comparatively great distances over monotonous ground, to get from one scenic spot to another.”

The South Island gains, Miss Sykes considers, not only by its variety, but also by the actual quality of the mountain scenery in the Southern Alps, and the easy accessibility of glaciers and snowfields to the ordinary person—not only to alpinists. Her attitude is that the type of attraction in the North Island is familiar to the average tourist, especially Americans. They have seen many limestone caves (though Miss Sykes admired the glow-worm cave at Waitomo, her interest went no further). Apart from her visit to Whakarewarewa, Miss Sykes said, “they could have wrapped up the whole of Rotorua and

done what they like with it.” The Southern Alps, however, compared very favourably with the Canadian Rockies, she said. She had spent some years in the Rockies and knew every beauty spot there; but nothing had impressed her more than the Southern Alps. She knew of no place in the Rockies where, within easy walking distance from a hotel, there was a glacier to compare with the Franz Josef. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION PRAISED “I am definitely keen on the South Island. I think it is a pity that more is not known in America about New Zealand. The lack of information about it is appalling. I would like to say about Mr Pollard and the South Islands Travel Association, that I consider that there is the makings of a very fine organization that will be of benefit to tourists. And I certainly think that the business people, the Chambers of Commerce, and'the hotel keepers should support it to their fullest extent, if they hope ever to put the South Island of New Zealand on the map.

“I only became interested in New Zealand from a publicity point of view after several months of seeing it,” said Miss Sykes. “And I am certainly going to try to tell my own people something about one of the grandest places in the world to spend a holiday. I am going back ..ith the idea of arranging tours between Canada and the United States and New Zealand.”