ROTORUA'S PUBLXCITY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 720, 21 December 1933, Page 4

ROTORUA'S PUBLXCITY

In.the course of comment upon the lack of publicity regarding the tourist resorts of New Zealand the Taranaki Herald has declared that the chief offender in this respect is the Government. The remarks of our contempor- ■ ary are more particularly directed toward the neglect of Taranaki but, says the Herald, "It is not, and in fact never has been contested that . New Plymouth and the district have tourist attractions worthy of the widest publicity, both overseas and in the Dominion, and that every planned tour should include Taranaki, yet there has been, in recent years, a seemingly deliberate attempt to sidetrack the province." While it may be safely taken that there has been no deliberate attempt on the part of the Government to ignore Taranaki, nor to neglect or overlook the possibilities of its tourist traffic as an asset for New Zealand, it must, nevertheless, be fully and freely recognised that the goods which this country has to put in the window to attract overseas buyers have not been properly displayed. Taranaki modestly admits that it only has Mt. Egmont to offer the visitor from overseas, but there is a wealth of tradition about the old mountain which should make an outstanding attraction to those who are attracted by the glamour of the past. But leaving Taranaki and Mt. Egmont out of the picture, it is still correct to say that the Government has not yet realised the full possibilities of New Zealand. as a tourist resort. By the Government we mean the Ministry and not merely the Tourist and Publicity Department which is after all but the servant of the Government and can only progress as fast as the Governnment permits. The term "tourist resort" has become somewhat hacknqyed and it has been applied to all sorts of places which strive to "turn an honest penny" by publicity. Taking that fact into consideration, we may safely claim that there are outstanding attractions in New Zealand which desire much more publicity than has sa far been given them. Some people claim that this publicity should be undertaken by private individuals, but if the'position is accurately reviewed it will be found that in a great measure the main public attractions are in the hands of the Government, and it is therefore incumbent upon the Government to give the • publicity which will bring

people from overseas to view, appreciate and talk about the pleasure goods which we have to offer. This aspect of publicity is particularly applicable to Rotorua, because we have here unique attractions which cannot j be put in the shop window of any other district in New Zealand, or as a matter of fact, any other known civilised district in the world. In the lake region surrounding Rotorua we have attractions to place before tourists which are not only unique but of outstanding beauty. The thermal activity alone is remarkable, while the lakes, mountains and picturesque tyavel routes make up a whole which is well worth the fullest publicity by the Government. On many occasions visitors from overseas declare that "if the wonderful beauty of your country was known it would bring thousands of visitors," but although Government publicity has done a great .deal to attract people to our shores, it has certainly not done enough; neither has the Government recognised the advisability of judiciously spending money upon such great national assets. as Rotorua. It is ture that the national account has been drawn upon to pay for bath buildings, sanatorium, gardens and services in Rotorua, but is it true that the Government is doing all in its power to make those assets and * services profitable to the country, and is Rotorua getting its due recognition as Qne of the most remarkable and beautiful holiday resorts in the Southern Hemisphere?