TOURIST COMPLAINS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 44, 22 February 1939, Page 10

TOURIST COMPLAINS

ARRANGEMENTS ALL WENT WRONG GOVERNMENT SERVICE ( Ter Pres* Association.J WELLINGTON. Feb. 21. Dissatisfaction with arrangements made by lhe Government Tourist Bureau for his tour of the Norin Island was expressed by Mr. A. L. Backwell, a Geelong city councillors, before he left Wellington by the Awatea on his way back to Australia. He and a companion arrived at Auckland last week, and spent six days in touring the North Island, visiting Tauranga, Rotorua and Hawke’s Bay. “Our tour was arranged for us by lhe Government Tourist Bureau,” he said. “I suppose you'd call it arraiiged; about 80 per cent, of the arrangements went wrong. When they gave | us this”—and he exhibited an embosed leather ticket and itinerary wallet—“in Melbourne, .we expected from the appearance of it that there must be something pretty good behind it. But we were disappointed. “Since it was just two men travlelling on their own, it wasn’t as bad as it might have been —we could put up with it. But I don’t know what we should have done if we’d had womenfolk with us.” In the first place the itinerary started about six hours before the boat arrived in Auckland, he said. The Awatea made port at ten mi autes past one on February 13, ten minutes after her expected time—but the two travellers found they were supposed to have left Auckland for Tauranga at 9 o’clock that morning. They had to put oft their departure till next day. Whey they reached Tauranga they were not expected there, and found their reservations had been cancelled. The hotel authorities, however, went to considerable pains to accommodate them. Had to Hire Taxi. Next the service car by which they were booked to travel omitted to tail, and the tourist authorities in TauIranga were not prepared to do any thing whatsoever about it. k inally they were obliged to hire a taxi to get to Rotorua. They were quite surprised to find they were expected there. During their stay in Rotorua, he continued, they visited the local tourist bureau office four times eacl* time Io rectify an error in (he arrangements. The officers of tr.e bureau were always very courteous and obliging. Everything went smoothly till they reached Napier, where they were put up in a fourtnclass hotel. . In Wellington they received the best treatment of their entire trip, they were expected at the hotel anti I made comfortable. But when thej 1 went to present their recipts for their I return tickets at the tourist bureau llhey found, said Mr. Backwell, that the Auckland district manager had I inadvertently addressed the slip to ‘himself. | They had, in spite of all this, greatlv enjoyed the tour a.nd been deeply I impressed by what they had seen. However, it would be impossible tor them to recommend such a service to their friends in Australia. Unsatisfactory and unreliable arrangements I robbed travel of a great deal ot its ; pleasure.