The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY. MARCH 5th, 1923. A SPECIAL NEED. It is becoming more and more ap-

Hokitika Guardian, 5 March 1923, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY. MARCH sth, 1923. A SPECIAL NEED. It is becoming more and more ap-

parent that a very special need for Hokitika, if it is to become the travel centre it is destined to be by reason of the advent of through railway communication, it will he imperative for private enterprise to exert itself with regard to the permanent provision of additional accommodation. The experience during the past two or three months is that the class of accommodation obtainable locally is more than taxed by the public travelling, and the volume at present is only a fraction of what it will be Inter. Moreover, with next season being exhibition year there will he a flood of traffic setting in which it will be quite impossible to cope with, unless a very special effort is made to meet it. A suggestion has been put forward to open a temporary hostel at- the State School. This will be very good, but an extension of the available better class accommodation as a permanent convenience, is like -vise essentially necessary, Tt fa per-

Imps not necessary that it. should be a licensed house, for in many towns now private hostels are much in vogue, hut whether a licensed house or not, additional first, class accommodation is essential here, and if the innkeepers are not prepared to launch out in the direction required, there is a call for : private enterprise in the future intori ests of the town to face the position. I Hokitika can he effectively made the : jumping off centre for nil tourist and holiday traffic on the Coast, if it cares to eater efficiently for the class of traffic which will l»e attracted hero. There is a splendid opening for the trade and all tho year round it would have very busy week-ends. The climate is such that there is not any definite season, with intervals of blanks in between. The traffic will he offering all the year round. The public of New Zealand are great travellers. Despite the cry of dull times and depression, people are moving about very freely. Trains and steamers are invariably full, and hotel accommodation in nil the principal centres of traffic arc crowded. With the opening of through traffic, Hokitika will become a principal centre of trafiif, for it will he the terminus of the Midland line, and from here, motor traffle now so well established, will serve all the popular tourist resorts which are Incoming more and more widely known. Within the last month or two, Canterbury publishers of motor guides hare been hero revising the information in their booklets and this fuller information is going to attract long strings of private motorists. The principal rivers to the AVniho will lie bridged before winter, and «■ sure, route t.o Waiho Glacier will be established. With the bridging of Waiho river, and the erection of AViiikukupa bridge, a further extension of tlie road route as far as the Fox glacier will he established adding to the attractions for motorists, who will come and come again for their holiday jaunts. This is all apart from the rnilwav passenger traffic, and more and more justifies indeed, calls for additional superior hotel accommodation as lining most essential. Tt will he possible to charge a tariff in keeping with the accommodation provided, so that the venture could he on sound commercial lines. As to the progressive future of the town and district, more commodious accommodation is essentially necessary, and those who wish to see the town take proper rank in keeping with its opportunities should associate themselves in a definite project to see the first tiling needful to secure the future properitv brought, quickly to pass.