A SURVEY OF TOURISM THE OVERSEAS' VISITOR

White Ribbon, Volume 31, Issue 4, 1 August 1959, Page 5

A SURVEY OF TOURISM THE OVERSEAS' VISITOR

The numb' eas visitor! lias risen from 16,500 in 1561, t 0 the latest year for which I have figures In then, of all the inadequ. I our allegedly totally unsuitable facilities, there has been a steady rise in numbers Though the number of persons hai more than doubled, the income derived from their coming • Iv just doubled. In 1931 the amount earned was (that is the amount ipent) £1,343,000, and in 1957 it was iIJ7AySuppose We Lost All Of It And all that was spent b\ the tourist was actually profit, then regarding the population of New Zealand as two and a hah' millions then eaeh man. IS! and child would be the poorer by about twenty-tWO shillings annually, or more limply, about sd. per week, or 5/7th of a penny per day. Who Came? Business men, preachers, teachers, children, white, yellow, and men of all colours Were they all drinkers I wonder, and I very much doubt it? Australians 15.749, Americans 4,253, Oceanians U4l, Britain 2,909. Africa 3%, Otl U I indly ipoken critics denounce our way of life, perhaps fifty of the 3K.000! We could improve our Why of life without doubt, but it must be obvioul to all who have these figures that, on the whole, the overseas visitor is not trying to indict our way ot life, but that the Trade 1 1 upon one or two remarks from disgruntled persons and is seeking to make capital from these. If We Lost The American Tourist EvCTV one of them, it would cost us all less than three shillings annually. Surely a negligible amount, and since many Americans who come here, in fact very many of them are representatives of Religious Bodies, most of whom*are non-drinkers, and therefore, part at least of the American trade would persist if there were no drink at all. But apart from all these considerations, the money which is spent is not all profit by any means—take, for example, those who do spend money on drink Whisky and nearly all the spirit? are imported here first of all and so far from being at; these tourists are a liability, .. unless tourists purchase only goods and services which are manufactured solely in this land, then whatever they Spend has no value at all from the viewpoint of the balancing of our budget There" is >nly one conclusion from this, and that is, there is collusion and jnanipulation somewhere. —(Contributed by request.)