PUBLICITY COMMITTEE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 23 April 1926, Page 11

PUBLICITY COMMITTEE.

I. REPORT TO CHAMBER'OF COMI merce; - I The following report of the Publicity I Committee of tie South , Canterbury I Chamber ;of Commerce, (signed by Mr I R.:B. Bell) wii!be presented for adbpI tion by the annual meeting of the 1 Chamber on Tuesday night next: — j “In the beginning of the year I (April 1925) the Timaru Publicity Association was successfully absorbed I by the Chamber, after several conferI enoes between your Committee and the Association’s executive, and we have to acknowledge with thanks the assistance we have received from, the prominent members of the Publicity Association, who not only joined *the Chamber but gave personal services on your CommitI tee. “During last winter your Committee was also successful in organising the leading hostelries in Timaru (both licensed and private) so that the advantages of the town as a winter resort might be stressed in the colder south. The sum of £4o—wholly subscribed by the proprietors of the houses specially interested—was spent in a series of advertisements which were inserted during the month of June in the Dunedin and Invercargill' papers. Th's was the firsit publicity of the sort ever done in New Zealand, and it caused considerable interest and comment in the south. It is difficult to say- whether it was successful—especially as Timaru experienced an unusually cold winter.; but it is certain, that the venture did help to impress tho advantages of Timaru as a winter resort on the people of Otago and Southland. “In the spring .the Council approved of your Committee’s action in pledging the Chamber’s sympathetic support to the ‘Shopping Week’ then projected—and soon afterwards successfully carried out by the Tetailers of llimaru, who are to be warmly congratulated on the success that attended their efforts. Your Committee takes the credit for inaugurating a movement that attracted so: much attention, and- with which some of its members, were associated throughout, but which it was .thought best to leave to the able management of those most intimately , concerned—the shopkeepers of the .town. “Continued attention was given to the question of convincing oversea tourists that New Zealand is. not comprised of the North Island alone. Tho' alid of the member for Timaru. was enlisted, and our thanks are due to Mr Rolleston for the efforts he has mads and is making in this connection. In addition, with the authority of the Council, the sum of £ls was contributed to an Association of South Canterbury Chambers of Commerce, Progress Leagues and certain tourist oompanies. This unity of action allowed for the establishment of a South Island agent at Auckland, whose main duty is to meet all incoming vessels from Canada, tile United States and Australia, to endeavour to induce oversea visitors to include the South Island in their itineraries, and generally to see that our scenic resorts (including, of course Mount Cook, the rivers and lakes of South Canterbury, and Caroline Bay) secure an increasing share of the ever-growing tourist traffic. “The main work of the year—and it occupied nearly the whole period—was the publication of the . illustrated booklet on South-Canterbury now in process of circulation. The planning of this brochure, the supervision of its compilation, and the collection of the necessary funds to defray the cost of publication made very heavy demands on all the members of your committee; and especially on Mr Leggott, who was a most enthusiastic and valuable working member, quite apart from his position as secretary to the Chamber. The progress reports submitted to the Council for months past have conveyed to the Council the purpose of the booklet, and the lines upon which its compilation and. format were, undertaken and pursued, and have stressed the hopes entertained that such a publication would be of benefit to South Canterbury as a whole. To-day tho booklet must speak for itself. The work is complete except for the final settlement of accounts, the details of distribution, and the proper acknowledgement of the financial assistance so kindly given your Committee. . “The list of contributors to date is as follows:—The County and Borough Councils of South Canterbury, £l/5; Timaru Harbour Boai'd, £SO; Mount Cook Motor Co., Ltd., £35; South Canterbury Power Board, £25; Caroline Bay Association, £25; South Canterbury’ Woolbrokers’ Association, £ls; Hydro-Grand Hotel Co., £lO 10s; Hon. j James Craigie, M.L.C., Public Trustee and Timaru Milling Co., Ltd., £lO each; Colonial Motor Co., Ltd., and South Canterbury Licensed Victuallers’ 1 Association, £5 5s each; Hon. F. J. Rolleston, M.P., j South.. Canterbury Acclimatisation Soo’cty, Timaru Transport Co., Mrs H: It; 1 Dodd (Seaview House), ' and N. Z. Insulators, Ltd. (Temuka), £5 each;' Timaru ,Herald Co., Ltd., £3; South Canterbury Land Agents’ Association, £2 2s; Timaru Post Co., I/td., £2; and Messrs A. S. Elworthy, J. P. Newman, J. Cleland and W. Mcßride, £1 Is each. A total of £412 6s lias therefore been received, and the further £2O to £3O expected to he donated on the necessary application will allow of payment in full of all expenses to date, and also of tho total cost of distribution, without reference to the funds of the Chamber. The most cordial thanks of the Chamber should, by special resolution, bo tendered to the contributors. “Your committee’s scheme for tlio distribution of the booklet is on the following broad lines, which arc subject to review after certain promised information has been supplied -by tho Director of the Government Publicity Department:—Through officers, councillors and members of tho Chamber, 300; j financial contributors, 500; South Island agent in Auckland, 500; Dunedin Exhibition, 1500; Government Tourist Agencies in New Zealand, 200; Motor Unions, and- , other channels in New Zealand, 2000; Government Agencies Overseas (London, New York, "Van-, couver, San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne, etc.), 3500; a total of 85CO copies. The number of copies printed was 10,000, so that a reserve of only 1500 is left for use in future years. “Your Committee has also kept fn touch with a central organisation in Wellington designed . to stimulate tiie Government’s publicity activities generally, to the end that the great potentialities of the Dominion as a whole as a tourist resort should bo properly advertised overseas. Continuous effort is necessary in this connection, and your committee confidently leaves this matter to its successors in office, who should also lie called on to work out with the R-ailways Department the all-in week-end excursion to Timaru scheme that has been sketched this year.”