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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 5 (September 1, 1933)

Invisible Imports

Invisible Imports

Among the most valuable invisible imports to any country is its tourist traffic. The value of this traffic appears on no national balance-sheet and estimates regarding it have to be worked out on very incomplete data; but every country with anything worth-while to show the visitor, welcomes travellers for what they bring of spending capacity, opinions, ideas and suggestions.

New Zealand—“The Playground of the Pacific” as it has come more recently to be popularly called, is attracting more attention from overseas as its particular charms become better known. The running of an extra line of vessels from San Francisco in the last few months is an indication of this increasing interest, and is helping to swell the returns from this source.

Recent years have seen marked improvements in the facilities and amenities of travel in New Zealand. A notable programme of modernising work has been carried through by the railways in improved timetables and better station facilities and train accommodation for travellers. The hotels of the Dominion have adopted a higher standard of comfort.

The chief complaint from those making a first visit to the Dominion is that they have not allowed themselves sufficient time to “do” New Zealand properly. One observant visitor was of the opinion that New Zealand overseas publicity leaves the impression that the country is smaller than it is, hence the visitor thinks a few days is sufficient to allow for a New Zealand stay. When they reach here and realise that this Dominion is larger than Great Britain, they find the limited time factor works against them, resulting in much of the better parts of New Zealand being missed altogether. This effect of unduly short stays works with particular disadvantage to the South Island, which, although claiming some of the most striking scenery, has no main terminal port for trans-Pacific passenger liners.

This disadvantage, despite the fact that the Wellington-Lyttelton ferry service (between the North and South Islands) is the best of its kind in the world, can only be overcome by an educational campaign amongst prospective visitors which, overcoming the New Zealander's natural tendency to conservatism of statement, will rather emphasise the size and broken nature of the country—its 103,000 square miles of area, its huge mountains, its gorgeous but detached scenic gems, its winding roads, mighty rivers, and deeply indented coasts.

The Railways Tourist Ticket (which, by the way, is estimated to provide the cheapest travel in the world) recognises fairly accurately the time required for seeing New Zealand. It allows four weeks for one Island, seven weeks for both—shorter periods mean undue scurry, or the elimination from itineraries of some outstanding features. But, whether their stay be long or short, the “invisible imports” of tourist traffic are always welcome, and they are of never-failing real value to the country.