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Christchurch. —The transfer of this office to more suitable premises has enabled it to provide a better service to the travelling public and to visitors. The staffing position is now more satisfactory, and the organization of the combined office (it now includes the Railway Central Booking Office) has been the subject of appreciative comment in many quarters. Tourist business shows an increase of £9,605. Railway business for the seven months during which the Railway Central Booking Office has been combined with the Bureau has been substantial. Conducted tours proved popular during the year, and eight North Island and eleven South Island itineraries were operated. Five week-end tours were conducted to the Hermitage, to Franz Josef Glacier, and to Fox Glacier. Local sporting bodies availed themselves of the services of the Bureau. Dunedin. —This Bureau showed a decrease of £5,015 as compared with the previous year. The poliomyelitis epidemic was the chief cause of this reduction in turnover. In the circumstances, and having regard for the record figures of the preceding year and the necessity for much tourist traffic to by-pass Dunedin owing to the temporary congestion of accommodation arising out of the Centennial Celebrations, the position must be regarded as satisfactory. A separate section of the Bureau has been organized to deal exclusively with railway-ticket sales to provide a better and more speedy service for train-passengers. Eleven conducted party tours were operated by this office during the year. All resorts in the Bureau territory were patronized fully. Invercargill.—Tourist booking business at this Bureau remained static over the period. As at all major Bureaux, a number of organized party tours was planned, and experience shows that week-end and short excursions are very well patronized, whereas more extensive itineraries are less popular. A number of the week-end tours assisted in popularizing the newly-opened snow-sports area at Coronet Peak near Queenstown. A new departure was the operation, in conjunction with the Marine Department, of a week-end cruise to Stewart Island. The route covered Port Pegasus, as well as Half-moon Bay. Altogether thirteen organized tours were run by this office, and the ultimate destinations were : Milford Sound, Te Anau, Manapouri, Doubtful Sound, Queenstown, and Wanaka. Chief resorts in the Bureau territory have been fully booked at times, and it was necessary on occasions to divert tourist traffic to other places where accommodation was available. Queenstown. —A busy year was again experienced, and the Honorary Government Tourist Agent states that the most important activity during the period has arisen out of applications for accommodation. Accommodation facilities are quite inadequate to meet the popular demand for holidays in Queenstown. Complaints have been received regarding the standard of some of the accommodation that is available at this resort. This was particularly noticeable when the leading houses, which have a limited capacity, were fully booked. At times the position has created a most unfavourable impression in the minds of some overseas visitors, who, after receiving first-class service and amenities at other resorts and city stop-overs en route to and from Queenstown, were disappointed at the treatment received in this otherwise outstanding sightseeing centre. Booking Agencies.- -The twenty-one Booking Agencies throughout New Zealand that provide an extension of the services of the Government Tourist Bureaux to various centres and districts beyond the cities and resort towns have performed excellent work for the Department during the year. Their efforts have contributed in no small part to the very satisfactory results achieved during the period.

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