Why Not Tell The World?

NZ Truth, Issue 1214, 7 March 1929, Page 6

Why Not Tell The World?

THE most distinguished lack m the organisation which tells the outer world about ourselves is the dearth of story-tellers-professional conversationalists m, say, America or the Continent, who could give a pleasant atmosphere to the narrativefs concerning New Zea- j land and its scenic glories. I Our agencies m the United States, if agencies there be, seem very much akin to the wholesale sales organisation with an intimate and .prolific brochure department, telling of a remarkable specific it has for sale,, yet without the retail contacts , that will meet the requirements of those who come to buy. ; . Our national publicity department seems to suffer a similar disability. Pamphlets, brochures and an. abundance of illustrated material that is a credit to itself and the ' country it represents are conveyed m "hundredweight loads across the Pacific, unloaded m the cities a.nd rest-houses of American i States, broadcast and poured out on every hand. Yet, where> may an American citizen make his . reservations for a sojourn m this cdu'ntry? . -.One can readily imagine a holidaymaking American who has read some of -.the material supplied by our pub-, licity department saying: "Well, folks, this New Zealand sure looks a dandy spot. How do we get there ?" . When he has made a few inquiries, only to find that reservations, as he calls" them, are not easily secured, he probably will disperse the idea of crossing the Pacific because it simply is too much trouble to find out how this may. be accomplished. The American is, a comfortable type of national whose every need is adjusted for him, where the. irksomeness of travel, its attendant arrangements and pother are made straight and clear for him, so it m.ust not amaze us iif Americans ignore our halfjmeasures. Clever advertising of our national health-giving retreats and holiday spots is all very well, but it remains for the. Publicity Office to send men into other countries, men, and women too, Whose special gifts as forerunners land story-tellers entitle them to represent their country m one of its most important departments of development. • The New Zealand Tourist League, embodies some highly unsatisfactory' figures m relation to the net return for the huge sum of money spent by the Publicity Department within the last three years, towards the development of tourist traffic fronr overseas. .Overseas visitors to the Dominion last year numbered 1009 less than the. year before, a condition which points, directly to the lack of what might be termed a selling personnel' m foreign; countries.,- ' j , It has been estimated that* at least 400,000 trippers' leave the -United States each year, yet of this, number the mere handful represented .'/by' 565 visitors annually reach this f country. ■;'■•■ The invisible imports ■ which .the wealth of .-these tourists represent to New Zealand could, and would, be greatly enhanced by the methods indicated, yet we continue to. labor .under the disadvantage of too careful a,h expenditure, or, rather, too narrow ' a purview on the part of .the govern-, ment. ;. •..•:'"■" What is the use of literature if there be. no tellers of. the. tale?