LURING TOURISTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 669, 22 May 1929, Page 7

LURING TOURISTS

ORGANISATION AT FAULT OVERHAUL NECESSARY “I am really glad to find a body of citizens not financially concerned taking such a keen interest in helping the Government. If we had that spirit right through New Zealand it would be of immense advantage to the country, for, after all, the affairs of New Zealand are the affairs of all the people,” declared the Hon. W. B. Taverner yesterday afternoon to a deputation from the New Zealand Tourist League which waited on him to urge certain reforms in the programme of encouraging tourists to come to the Dominion. The deputation, which Mas introf duced by Mr. H. R. Jenkins, M.P., coni sisted of the executive of the New Zealand Tourist League—Messrs. G. I M. Fowlds (chairman), G. Finn, H. A. Johnston, A. S. Graham, P. Hayward, and T. Walsh, secretary. Mr. Fowlds and Mr. Finn urged that Cabient should give consideration to a proposal that had been formulated at a conference of commercial interests held in Wellington two years ago. bn the suggestion of the League, to consider how the State might be helped to develop the tourist business. This conference recommended that an advisory hoard should be set up to act with Government representatives from the Tourist, Railways, and Publicity Departments of State. Mr. Coates, the then Prime Minister, had attended the conference and had promised an early reply; it had not yet been received. In Australia and in England such aids to Government effort had been set up. DISTRIBUTED BLINDLY Mr. T. Walsh said that the Governi ment was probably not getting full value from its expenditure on publicity. Leaflets and booklets were written ■without knowing for what purpose they would be used, and w r ere distributed blindly. The departments then sat down and hoped that tourists would come. A kind of machine to sell trips to New Zealand had been built, but it functioned badly because an important part of it "was missing. There was no sales organisation to follow up the interest created by advertising. If we had 1,000 men on commission or some other basis scattered over the world booking trips to New Zealand, and designed the publicity matter to suit the needs af those men, more people would be shifted to New Zealand in one year than there were now in five years. The Minister said that he, as Minister in charge of Publicity, and Sir Joseph Ward, who is Minister for Tourist and Health Departments, had not yet had an opportunity to have a real conference about the issues raised by the deputation. He admitted the force of the argument that the machine for selling trips to New Zealand was not functioning as it should. He objected, on principle, to boards as suggested, but would approach the subject with an open mind. There were obvious reasons for a j complete overhaul of the system of getting tourists. He was sending a man to Australia to get full :nformat.ion about the policy there, Australia being the best customer. The nominal head of the Publicity Department was attached to the High Commissioner’s Office in London, but it might be better to have him in New Zealand. That was one of the things that would be dealt with.