NEW PLYMOUTH'S OPPORTUNITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 April 1916, Page 4

NEW PLYMOUTH'S OPPORTUNITY.

The large number of visitors to New Plymouth during the past few days again directs attention to the need for further providing accommodation in New 'Plymouth. The local Expansion and Tourist League is doing its best to find room for the constantly increasing number of visitors at holiday times, but unless more private houses are prepare'l to "take in" holiday-makers, it is quite certain that many desirous of coming here will in the near future be prevented from doing so. As a matter of fact, applications have already at times been refused because of the League's inability to secure beds. This state of tilings must be detrimental to the best interests of the .town. A holi-day-maker has always money to spend, and every one prevented from staying here represents a substantial monetary loss to the town. There is every reason to believe that Xew Plymouth will continue to attract more and more visitors as its unrivalled attractions anil scenic assets become better known, and the need for further accommodation becomes correspondingly pressing. To fill this need is a matter that should without delay engage the attention of the town. There cannot be any doubt but that a seaside hostelry, conducted on p:oper lines, would prove a success from the day of its opening, and that it would create an altogether new trade that would not be confined to holiday times, but prove constant throughout the year. There are large numbers of people from the country, and even from places as far away as Hawke's Bay, who, with their families, would gladly spend a few weeks in the winter at a salubrious seaside town like New Plymouth, ./itli its splendid motoring roads and diverse attractions. The Taraftaki farmer is realising that a spell away from the tarm is a good investment—to put it on a practical plane—for his wife and family and 'himself, and he is now in a position, thanks to the last ■two prosperous seasons, to indulge in such a holiday. To him a homely, comfortable hostelry would appeal where the ordinary hotel or boarding-house might oiler no attraction. Generally speaking, few places in New Zealand hove better opportunities as a holiday resort than New Plymouth, and it behoves its citizens to lose no time in taking advantage of them. If private enterprise does not seize the splendid chance offering, then the citizens should very carefully consider whether it would not pay them handsomely, directly and Indirectly, to themselves fill what is becoming a vsrjr jireulng need.