TOURIST TRAFFIC IN WAR TIME

Southland Times, Issue 24153, 15 June 1940, Page 9

TOURIST TRAFFIC IN WAR TIME

NEW ZEALAND EXPECTED TO BENEFIT (Special to The Times) AUCKLAND, June 14. Acting on the expectation that European war-time travelling difficulties will result in a substantial tourist benefit for New Zealand and Australia, Mr Nowell D. Jones, traffic superintendent of Qantas Empire Aiiways, Limited, arrived at Auckland from Sydney by the flying boat Awarua to make a survey of the Dominion’s attractions. Mr Jones said that because of the restrictions on travel from the East to England and Europe residents in the Far East with long leave were already turning to New Zealand, Australia and Africa for their vacations.

“Australian travel agencies,” he said, “are therefore preparing for a boom in the trans-Tasman flying-boat passenger bookings. I am therefore making a survey of the advantages which New Zealand enjoys as a natural playground fox’ vacationists. lam doing it fox- the Qantas Empire Airways as principal Australian agents for the Tasman Empire Airways.” In spite of the war, Mr Jones said, it had been found that passenger traffic on the flying-boat services between Australia and overseas destinations had increased in the last 12 months by about 33 per cent. It was interesting to note that 42 per cent, of the total number of passengers carried were women.

Speaking of the Tasman service Mr Jones said that business concerns in both countries were beginning to avail themselves of the freight service, and it was expected that crossings would soon be made with capacity loadings. The flying-boats operating out of Sydney had carried 101 tons of freight in the last year, this being a concrete example of another advantage offered New Zealand by the Tasman service. The transit time of about nine hours presented an ideal method of handling perishable cargoes, Mr Jones said. The suitability of flying-boats for carrying perishable goods was shown by the shipment twice weekly from Sydney of about 400 dozen Sydney rock oysters for Singapore.