“TARANAKI CENTRAL PRESS.” WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1936. NEW ZEALAND’S TOURIST TRAFFIC.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 316, 23 December 1936, Page 4

“TARANAKI CENTRAL PRESS.” WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1936. NEW ZEALAND’S TOURIST TRAFFIC.

The Government Tourist Department is justly proud of the increase in the tourist traffic to New Zealand. 1 here are indications that for the first time the number of visitors from overseas will this year reach 20,000.- The returns already show an increase of 44 pel cent, over last year's total. , The tourist traffic is a valuable asset to the Dominion and the Department has worked efficiently to attract visitors here. As the Minister explained in a statement yesterday, the Department had been successful m securing six cruise trips this season against four last year. Few New Zealanders could cavil about the energy of the Tourist Department in stimulating the tourist traffic. But most of them pale a little at the manner in which visitors' itineraries are arranged. The usual tourist who lands in New Zealand and places himseff for a limited period in the hands of the Department, finds himself rushed off through smoky tunnels, and at the dead of night, to Rotorua. Then another rush deposits the visitor back at his ship, and the tour is over. Admitedly, this is not the case with every tourist. But for the visitors by the six cruise ships this season, for those who do not want to travel round the coast by the sea, the above will almost certainly be the procedure. It is the time factor which necessitates this, we arc told. If so, would the Department be not better advised to encourage less cruises and more extended visits? The South Island of New Zealand has, justifiably wc believe, a continual complaint that tourists are not given the opportunity to see that part of New Zealand. Taranaki might well take up the same stand. Rotorua and Waitomo Caves, wonderful though they are, should not be “boosted’’ at the expense of the glorious beauty spots to be found elsewhere in New Zealand. Rotorua and Waitorno are duplicated in other countries. But the glory of our mountains, bush, lakes and rivers are unequalled elsewhere. Why then does the T ourist Department not show our visitors the beauty of New Zealand, rather than the weirdness of its thermal regions? Would not, for instance, the beauty of Mount Egmont become a more iicasured memory than the terrifying nature of the Rotorua geysers?

Aii Autumn Shew. Aftei having been long before the Stratford A. and P. Association, the proposal to have an autumn show at Stratford has now been accepted, and probably on March I 2 and 1 3 of next year the first such show will be held. This step has been taken only after careful consideration and will be watched with more than ordinary interest by those concerned. 1 he show next March is something of an experiment, but the A. and P. Association have weighed the pros and cons very fully before coming to a decision. 1 here is a past performance on record, that of 1919, when an autumn venture by the Association was hardly a success. Outside factors then, however, militated against real success, and 1937 will sec another trial. As far as the community is concerned, the proposal should be greeted with approval, particularly if the Association can manage to carry off a spring show successfully in the same year. In a farming community such as Central Taranaki, by virtue of its own productive wealth and its geographical position, two shows a year should not be impossible. In fact, the Stratford A. and P. Association has before it the opportunity to gain a leading place among the farming organisations of this Dominion by encouraging competitive showing as much as possible. If energy, enthusiasm and foresight are the necessary factors to bring this about, then all should be well, for the Stratford Association has officers who posses- such qualification in (He ftillci degree.