WHOLE AREA SHOULD BE PROMOTED

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 70, 7 September 1965, Page 2

WHOLE AREA SHOULD BE

PROMOTED

The pumice area from the Chateau Tongariro to Bay of Plenty should be promoted as oue tourist zone, the general manager of Spanz, Captain R. D. Daniell, snggested in an address to the Taupo Rotary Club on Thnrsday night. There should be no discrimination against one particular thermal attraction as opposed to another. Tourists were interested in thermal activity and overall benefits would result if tours were sold on an area basis, he suggested.

There would be a tremendous inflnx of overseas tourists to New Zealand after the opening of the international airport at Mangere. "But will we be ready to cope with them?" Captain Daniell said he had been told by a senior executive of Pan-American Airways that the company would not promote New Zealand for 12 months after the opening of Mangere. The executive, who represented one of the most experienced airline companies in the world, said there was a danger of a tourist "bottleneck" in New Zealand immediately after the opening of the airport. Captain Daniell said local communities could make a contribution to tourist promotion by ensuring that the reception of visitors was kept on a personal basis. He instanced the case of Wanganui, where a host panel had been formed to enable tourists to meet local residents of similar occupation and interests. Captain Daniell said Spanz traffic had been most encouraging in recent weeks, and August had produced the best figures for this month since the company's inception. He was confident that Spanz could operate as an economic unit if the company was zoned a reasonable proportion of traffic by the licensing authority.