NOT ENOUGH PUBLICITY

Taranaki Daily News, 1 February 1927, Page 11

NOT ENOUGH PUBLICITY

dominion lags behind GREAT TOURIST POSSIBILITIES. HOTELS NOT WELL EQUIPPED. (By Wire. —Special to News.)) Auckland, Last Night. New Zealand’s tourist publicity in the United States is not very effective because the booklets which are being isare not reaching a sufficient numof people. Such is the opinion of Mr. J. L. Wheeler, manager for the Pacific Tours Ltd., of San Francisco, arrived to-day with a party of 25 I'he Dominion would profit considerif tlle Ovcl ' seas Publicity Board ant Dominion Government Tourist Buwere to co-operate with tourist in a more effective manner, he said. it was. tiie only organisations which gave any real assistance were the New Zealand railways and the Union SteaMship Company. Mr. Wheeler, who has brought numerous parties to New Zealand, this being his fourteenth visit, says his company, which specialises in New Zealand tours, could bring many more visitors here ‘f the Dominion were more widely known in the States. The trouble was that the right people were not being impressed with what New Zealand had to offer. Mr. Wheeler’s firm was spending a great deal of money in making New Zealand known, but they were handicapped by the lack. of co-operation on the part of the Publicity Board and the Tourist Bureau, although the last-named organisation did give a little help. In pointing out that 57 palatial steamers were in use this season in carrying 25,000 American tourists on long cruises to distant parts, Mr. Wheeler stressed the fact that New Zealand could, if she were better known, attract a big slice of this traffic. It was estimated that 25,000 tourists would spend over 75,000,000 dollars, and there was no reason why New Zealand should not have a cut of such a sum in years ahead, if publicity was handled properly. Referring to the accommodation, Mr. Wheeler said the average New Zealand hotel compared favourably with a small town American hotel, as far, at least, as cleanliness and the quality of food were concerned. A big fault lay in the fact that scarcely any of the bedrooms in large hotels were equipped with washbasins or baths. “These tourists who are coming to New Zealand expect something better than wash basins and jugs of water, and they are willing to pay for what they expect,” said Mr. Wheeler. “All the best rooms should have proper basins with running water, and a good number of rooms should have private baths attached. One or two rooms so equipped are no use for they are almost certain to be occupied before the tourists arrive. These Americans would very often pay double the ordinary amount if they could have a room with a private bath.”