TOURIST TRAFFIC

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20929, 7 January 1938, Page 5

TOURIST TRAFFIC

RECORD ESTABLISHED ACCOMMODATION TAXED By Telegraph— Press Association WELLINGTON. January 6. ! Although the tourist traffic is not j yet considered to have reached its I peak, holiday resorts report that the | number of visitors over the Christmas | and New Year holidays was far in excess of the number last summer and by far the greatest for at least eight years.

Three tourist ships have already arrived at Wellington and five at Auckland, and many of their passengers have enjoyed brief visits to the tourist resorts in the Dominion. It is expected that the season will not reach its peak for a short time yet. The majority of visitors for Christmas and New Year at the resorts were New Zealanders. Auckland and Wellington contributed most, but large numbers of motorists also arrived from other parts, including the South Island.

The hotels were unable to provide sufficient accommodation for all those who desired it at Rotorua and Taupo. For weeks before Christmas rooms had been booked in advance and the daily arrivals of holiday-makers, eager to make the best of the brilliant weather which prevailed, continued to make calls upon the hotels and other houses that had no possibility of fulfilment. At Rotorua as many as 1200 cars were parked over the week-end in the camping ground, and on the shores of all the neighbouring lakes were scores of others. Taupo, again at every suitable site. Wairakei and Tauranga were also thronged, and right aloftg the coast on both sides of the island returning motorists have reported that there were holiday-makers, more or less permanent camps, and parked cars and tents. Waihi Beach had more campers than last year and North Auckland was also extremely popular, Napier was completely booked out for Christmas and the New Year, and on the other coast there was a record number of bookings at the Mt. Egmont Hostel. There was also a large crowd at the Stratford mountain house, but it was unfortunate that the weather prevented climbers from reaching the summit of the mountain on New Year's Eve to perform the traditional ceremony of setting off rockets and flares to welcome the New Year.

At Chateau Tongariro bookings were extremely heavy and thousands of people visited the resort during the holiday period. Down to Wanganui there was very heavy traffic and at times the city lacked accommodation for fresh arrivals. Every inch of space in the camping grounds was either taken or reserved and even on Castlecliff Beach there was an abnormal number of campers. The Marlborough Sounds district has experienced one of the most successful seasons on record and at practically every resort, known or otherwise, accommodation was under pressure. Picton, too, shared in the rush of traffic, and further down the South Island at Mt. Cook Hermitage and the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers bookings reached new levels for the holiday season. Lake Te Anau and the Milford Track proved exceptionally popular with holi-day-makers, the majority of visitors being attracted from the North Island. Queenstown and Pembroke also had a large influx of visitors and at Pembroke several fishermen secured excellent catches.