ATTRACTING TOURISTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 30, 28 September 1931, Page 4

ATTRACTING TOURISTS

("Post" Speeial Commissiono»*',.

tourist department REVIEW OF FUNCTIONS AND OUTLINE OF NEW PLANS ANNUAL REPORT

WELLINGTON, Saturday. A review of the functions of the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts on publicity is given in the annual report of the department which has be.en presented to Parliament. "The consolidation of the work of the Tourist and Publicity Departments is a recognition of the fact

that in the main our national publicity effort is directed towards in- : creasing tourist traffic to the Dominion," wrote the ex-Minister in charge of the Department, Mr. P. A. de la : Perrelle. "Publicity is therefore, as our 'tourist-sales' advertising, an integral part of the tourist effort. "The other main sections of the Department's work are represented by (a) the provision in New Zealand and overseas of booking services designed to facilitate and encourage travel in the Dominion; (b) the administrative control of many of the important scenic assets; and (c) the provision and control of facilities designed to encourage tourist traffic in, New Zealand. These last-mentioned functions are carried out by methods adapted to the differing circumstanc- ■ es. In some f ew instances the Department operates directly on commercial lines by the provision of accommodation, transport, and guiding services. - In other cases steps have been taken to lease particular re-

serves or property to private enterprise. "In large measure the expenditure of the Department is not designed to show a direct financial return to the State. The provision and maintenance of parks and gardens and play-ing-areas, and the means of access to scenic resorts, subsidies to local authorities for similar purposes, and other expenditure of a like nature re-

prcsent a continuous charge upon the funds at the Department's disposal. In other instances the circumstances aro such that while some revenue is secured the Department cannot expect to derive a return fully commensurate with expenditure which isv intended primarily to increase the tourist facilities. Notwithstanding these facts, the total gross cost of the Department is materially offset by the total revenue received, which in the year ended, March 31, amounted to £68,524. "Broadly stated, therefore, the Department's functions are to encourage tourist travel in the Dominion ( and particularly from overseas), to provide the necessary booking services, either independently or in association with overseas travel agencies, to develop facilities, and to control Stateowned scenic assets.

Organisation Overseas "The Department maintains its own offices and staffs overseas to a limited extent only, but representation through honorary agents and part-time officers has been secured at a number of important points largely through the generous assistance of New Zealanders living abroad. Our own offices at Sydney, Melbourne, and Toronto, and the High Commissioner's Office in London are staffed and equipped not only to assist in publicity work and the giving of information, but also are able to carry out the more difficult work of actually booking tours. The association at those offices of work in relation to trade development, tourist, and publicity activities, and many other ditties for a number of Government Departments, has necessitated and justified the establishment of these branch offices. Honorary agents who are mainly, though not entirely, concerned with publicity work are loeated at Brisbane, Johannesburg, Durban, Calcutta, Colombo, Tientsin, Honolulu, Vancouver, and San Francisco. As opportunity offers, the system of appointing honorary agents is being extended with very satisfactory results.

"In connection with the reorganisation of our Australian representation a decision was made to transf er the main office from Melbourne to Sydney, and in the latter city new ground floor offices have been leased in a particularly favourable location at the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place, opposite the General Post Office. This change has necessitated increased expenditure, but the 'publicity' value of the move has been ample justification. The office has been attractively fitted and the window-display space put to best possible uses. The results of the change have been entirely satisfactory. "During the past year our Australian organisation has been greatly strengthened by the oppointment of a number of agents on a commissiop basis, and we now have booking office representation in twenty-seven of the main cities and towns of the Commonwealth. Definite business results have been secured in face of difficult economic conditions. The appointment of agents on a similar basis in a further 24 eentres is under action. "The effort to increase traffic to the Dominion is essentially made under two main headings — (a) publicity in varying forms, and (b) the provision of overseas offices and agencies to provide information and booking facilities linked with the ' booking organisation within the Dominion. These two phases of what may be called 'the overseas effort' are inter-dependent. Publicity must be backed by all necessary provision to enable prospective visitors to secure detailed information and actually to hook tours to and through the Dominion. Conversely, overseas travel agencies or departmental branches cannot be expected to secure substantial business for New

Zealand unjess they are supported by adequate publicity. Some New Arrangements "Outside the Commonwealth the Department has adopted the method ' of working through its arrangements with a number of well-known travel agencies which conduct extensive travel business with and to all parts of the world. Under these arrangements— revised and improved 'during the past year— the travel agen-

cies have been granted favourable li commission rates on all business 'J booked to New Zealand. To overcome the diffieulties which would be - faced by booking-offices overseas not

possessed of detail knowledge of v travel in the Dominion a wide range | of standard or 'priced' tours — speci- | fied in detail, and including all ser- 1 vices from arrival to departure — have I been supplied to these travel agen- | cies. Satisfactory financial arrange- | ments have been made, and these 1 priced tours can be sold to cover 1 either a short or a long period in 1 the Dominion. | "I am confident that the greatly | improved conditions offered to and i through these important avenues of i tourist business should be of consid- I erable assistance in drawing traffic | particularly from North America and | the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, | the funds available are at present | quite inadequate to provide, particu- 1 larly in the extensive booking' ar- | rangements. We are, however, as- I sisted materially in that direction by I the work of railway and shipping | companies, which in varying degrees | and at different stages are interest- | ed, in traffic to the Dominion. | "The Department's efforts abroad | in relation to the important matter | of 'selling' tours must necessarily be 1 supported within the Dominion "by an 1 efficient booking-service. This inter- i nal organisation has for many years 1 catered effeetively for the needs of | New Zealanders who require advice I and assistance in arranging itinerar- j ies through the Dominion, but in the main eentres (and more paticuarly j at Auckland and Wellington) the | staffs of the Department's bureaux s are largely engaged in booking tours I for overseas visitors, many of whom | come to us through the agency of our f branches overseas or from travel ! firms, witli which we are continuously I in contact, on a commission basis. f "While, therefore, our bureaux in \ New Zealand handle a great deal of | 'local' traffic, they are at the same | time an essential part of the organ- i

lsation necessary to deal effeetively 1 with tourist business originating over- I seas. Even the bureaux in the small- f er eentres provide for overseas visi- ] tors a necessary service in readjust- I ing, to meet the changing desires of l visitors, itineraries originally fixed | either abroad or at the port of arrival in New Zealand. j "The total value of rail, motor, | steanier, air, and side-trip tickets and | accommodation coupons issued during I the past year was £173,930." 1L