BEAUTIES OF THE PACIFIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1040, 2 August 1930, Page 26

BEAUTIES OF THE PACIFIC

BIG EFFORT TO ATTRACT TOURISTS £IOO,OOO PUBLICITY FUND . Great though the growth of tourist traffic has been in the Pacific of late years, recent figures show that little more than 2 per cent, of the number of passengers who cross the Atlantic every year visit the. Pacific. On June 12 a conference of the interests affected—railway, steamship, accommodation and travel bureau agencies—examined the possibilities of diverting some of the tourist traffic to the Pacific, and on July 22 It was decided to form a permanent organisation with a yearly publicity fund of £IOO,OOO to urge the Pacific’s attractions.

This world battle for tourist trade is expected to be a bitter and an expensive one. Hitherto the old-world countries bordering the Atlantic have enjoyed a virtual monopoly, as shown by figures of the United States Chamber of Commerce. Whereas 479,000 trans-Atlantic crossings were made in 1929, only 10,100 made the journey across the Pacific. Yukon, Alaska, China, Japan, Australia, tho Pacific Islands, New Zealand and the western seaboard of the American continents offer tourist attractions that, for sheer beauty and variety, far outshine the old-world lands. For some years the travel interests of the Pacific basin have felt that more should be done toward directing world traffic toward the Pacific, and the recent conference have brought about a united action. The conference at San Francisco on July 22 was a representative one, including delegates from the Union Steam Ship Company, Can-adian-Australasian Royal Mall Line, Matson Navigation Company, Dollar Steamship Company, Canadian-Pacific and Canadian Natiorv' Railways, all the big United States railways running to the -west coast ports, most of the hotel groups, the Honolulu Tourist Bureau, and the Australian and New Zealand travel groups. It Is probable that a former Governor of the Honolulu territory, Mr. Wallace F.. Farrington, will be the chairman of the new publicity organisation. With the suggested backing of £IOO,OOO a year, the committee is expected to be able to divert a large proportion of the traffic of other countries to the Pacific area.