A TOURIST GRIEVANCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 903, 24 February 1908, Page 4

A TOURIST GRIEVANCE.

It is a constant subject of complaint by tourists in the North that they are debarred in many parts* from indulgence in the liquid refreshments to which they have been accustomed. Recently an officer of the British Army, after paying a short visit to the Wonderland of New Zealand, on reaching Adelaide upon his return journey to England, thought fit to decry the whole country and everything in and about it, because in'the Rohe Potae he was unable to quench his thirst or stimulate his system by something more delectable than water, tea, or other "soft-tack." His denunciation of the dominion was silly. Now we find a group of eight tourists making a similar complaint, but they do not decry the country. There is much to justify these persistent grumblings. The Government yearly increases its vote for the encouragement of the tourist traffic; new "resorts" are constantly being established, and fresh tracks are being cut in all directions to enable tourists to view "the beauties of the wilderness;" but the laws relating to sale of liquor are such—in the North at any rate—as to detract somewhat from the attractiveness of travel. Sunday is a day upon which the traveller is forbidden to be served with alcoholic beverages, ten o'clock licenses limit the opportunities for procuring a "night-cap," and practically the whole of the native territory is a prohibited area. It is in this region that murh o? the tourist traffic takes place. Reaching Wanganui-the other day, eight tourists sat down together and indicted a letter to a contemporary in that town setting forth their grievances in this respect. They tpoke in laudatory terms of the beauty of the country, its splendid climate and its general attractiveness for tourists; but they bitterly declaimed about the compulsion they were under to slake their thirst with a doubtful quality of water, tea of an inferior character, or syrups which failed to sooth because of their impulsiveness of appearance and flavour. "After a hot and dusty drive all day, or ride in a dusty train, we many times," remark the disconsolate eight, "arrived a*; our hotel, and found absolutely nothing we dared to drink. This sort of thing must be very detrimental to the country in the future unless it is altered without de-

lay, as travellers will certainly warn their friends to avoid New Zealand in spite of its wondrous sights and lovely climate." We are amongst those who think that far too much importance is attached to and money spent upon the tourist traffic; but in view of the great and costly department set up to encourage it, the efficient catering for the tourist is a matter which the Government may find it necessary to seriously consider.