TARANAKI MISSES AGAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 November 1934, Page 4

TARANAKI MISSES AGAIN.

Carrying 800 tourists, the luxury liner Strhthaird berthed at Auckland last Friday, and most of her passengers immediately began a brief sight-seeing tour of the North Island before rejoining the ship at Wellington. The organised trips, which were arranged by the Government Tourist Department, included visits to Rotorua, Wairakei, Chateau Tongariro, Waitomo Caves Arapuni and Wanganui, but not Taranaki. The omission of this province from such itineraries has happened so often now that it does not come as a surprise. Are the people content to let this state of affairs continue? Commenting on the visit, the command* er of the Strathaird and the organiser or the tour paid a tribute to the “excellent publicity organised by the Tourist Department, which throughout the cruise had done everything possible to place the attractions of New Zealand before the passengers,” From this and previous experiences it can only be assumed that the Tourist Department is not anxious to include Taranaki in such itineraries. Why? The logical answer seems to be that the department does not consider the province has sufficient to attract the overseas visitors, in competition with the other places mentioned. If this is so, then the solution lies in the hands of the residents themselves. It would be an almost impossible task if Taranaki did not have the scenic attractions to offer, but the general belief is all in the other direction. It may well be that these attractions need capitalising and proper publicity. It may be that hotel accommodation is an important factor. These are details which ought to be given thorough consideration by the citizens of the province with the object of taking definite and comprehensive action. At Christmas another luxury liner will visit Wellington with 1100 tourists on board, and in the new year yet another similar ship will call at New Zealand. Surely it is not beyond the power of the public men of Taranaki to set the ball rolling by organising at least one excursion to the province from these ships, and making sure that when the visitors do arrive they see something that will justify their visit-