The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING “LUCEO NON URO” WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1937. Tourists And The Unknown South

Southland Times, Issue 23335, 20 October 1937, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING “LUCEO NON URO” WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1937. Tourists And The Unknown South

A volume of complaint is steadily rising against the treatment of overseas tourists in New Zealand, more especially in relation to the South Island itineraries arranged for them by the Government Tourist Bureaux. It has been alleged that tourists are discouraged from visiting the South Island at all; and some of those who have ventured south in spite of warnings of extreme cold, impassable roads and inadequate facilities have wondered why there should be such a constant emphasis on northern resorts at the expense of scenic and sporting attractions elsewhere. This morning we reprint a statement from The Press, Christchurch, which refers to the strange case of the South African footballers during their recent tour. A trip to Mount Cook proved to be the highlight of the tour; yet the Springboks nearly missed it after listening to adverse comment in the north. This comment seems to have come from private individuals, and not from officers of the Tourist Department, and much of it was probably nothing more than the ill-informed chatter which sometimes comes with a sound of authority if it is sufficiently emphatic. It would be absurd to imagine that there is a sort of conspiracy in the North Island to keep the wealthy tourist from coming south of Cook Strait. But if derogatory talk is as common as it seems to be it must be based on an attitude which, after allowance is made for parochialism, can be the result only of a widespread ignorance of actual conditions in this island. In an enlightened community, served by a Tourist and Publicity Department which is expected to make New Zealanders aware of their own country, no less than to attract visitors to it from overseas, this ignorance—and the willingness to announce it loudly—is unexpected and .disturbing.

It is only fair to admit that individual complaints must be treated with caution. But in the last few weeks there have been complaints from reputable visitors who have been able to state their cases precisely and consistently. Statements have been made which impugn the efficiency of Government officers, and even if these must not be accepted as proven until they have been made the subject of searching inquiry the continued criticism of the Government Tourist Bureaux makes it difficult to avoid the belief that the South Island tourist attractions are far from receiving the attention they deserve. Visitors have not failed to declare their surprised pleasure when they have discovered the mountains, rivers and lakes of the south. The variety of a landscape which moves back through cultivated lands to the hills and bush of Southland and Otago, and further north to the ultimate grandeur of the Southern Alps never fails to delight those who come to it from the more scattered beauty spots of the North Island. Nor are the attractions merely scenic; they include some of the best trout streams in the country. It is probably safe to say that several thousand tourists come to New Zealand every year for freshwater fishing. Most of these anglers find their way to Lake Taupo and the trout streams of the north. Yet we have expert evidence that the rivers of the far south more than bear comparison with anything else in New Zealand. An address to the Fisheries Committee of the Southland Acclimatization Society by Mr D. F. Hobbs, Fresh Water Fisheries Biologist of the Marine Department, was reported yesterday in The Southland Times. “Your fishing here is of an exceptionally high standard,” said Mr Hobbs, “and your streams are very interesting, offering every type of water to the angler.” He referred specifically to the Eglinton river as an “angler’s paradise.”

It would be interesting to know how many overseas anglers find their way to our southern rivers. If it were argued that visiting anglers are anxious to go to the much-advertised Taupo district, it could be said at once that an itinerary could be arranged which would allow tourists to try their skill in the Eglinton river and elsewhere in the south, and leave them ample time to fish in the north. The season in Southland opens on the first of October. At Taupo the season does not open until November, and the fishing is not at its best until well after Christmas. There is plenty of time for angling in Southland. And what is more, it is angling of a kind that will appeal to the expert. In Southland the fish are predominantly brown trout, and every angler knows that this species provides sport for the skilled fisherman far more satisfying than anything encountered

among the rainbow trout of Taupo. If the Tourist and Publicity Department cared to make the fullest use of the information in its own pamphlets and folders it could provide visiting anglers with an itinerary that would gave them a wide range of sport, and at the same time take them through a variety of country greater than most of them believe to exist in New Zealand. This is only one way in which tourists could be served more adequately. There must be many others that could be discovered if the department approached its task a little more imaginatively, and inquired more closely into the resources of scenery and sport available, not only in the north, but in the entire -country. The inhabitants of the South Island have every reason to insist that some such inquiry should be made at the earliest opportunity.