Scenic Playground: The Story Behind NZ’s Mountain Tourism

However, ongoing restrictions in the aftermath of war meant that tourism was slow to regain momentum.

With uncertainty surrounding overseas transport links and a severe lack of accommodation, the Tourist Department was initially reluctant to advertise too intensively. It focused its publicity campaigns on New Zealanders and was encouraged by the increase in domestic tourism in the late 1940s. But hotels struggled to stay afloat, leading to more government takeovers. By the end of the 1940s, the department controlled a chain of nine hotels, including the Chateau, Hermitage, Te Anau Hotel, Milford Hostel and the Glacier Hotel at Franz Josef. Transport links to New Zealand improved in the early 1950s and, by the 1960s, when passenger jets made travel to New Zealand cheaper and faster, international tourism became more viable. But the short supply and poor quality of accommodation remained an issue.

Many within government remained unconvinced of the economic benefits and potential of selling scenery and attractions. Treasury opposed investment in tourism, arguing that New Zealand was too far from population centres and lacked a sufficiently wide range of attractions to sustain tourist traffic. At the New Zealand National Tourist Conference, held at the Chateau in March 1950, delegates detailed the ways in which the government’s restrictive policies were hampering the industry. They drew up a set of recommendations, but these made little impact in the face of government indifference.

The Tourist Hotel Corporation Bill, introduced in 1955 in an attempt to solve the accommodation woes, prompted vigorous debate about the type of tourism that should be developed. There were concerns that hotels would be developed for wealthy foreigners, and thereby jeopardise the chances for ‘our own kiddies to see our own country’. The Rt Hon. Philip Holloway of Heretaunga opposed the bill because he did not believe New Zealanders wanted to see their country ‘flooded with overseas tourists’ and be reduced to ‘giving service to people coming here merely to enjoy themselves’. Others argued that promoting international tourism and catering for overseas tourists with comfortable hotels, flexible meal times, longer opening hours, freely available alcohol and ‘nightlife’ threatened New Zealanders’ way of life. This reflected general public opinion that stunning scenery was enough of a drawcard for tourists, and there was no need to offer ‘sophisticated pleasures’ for their enjoyment. Despite these reservations, the bill passed. The new Tourist Hotel Corporation (THC) took control of the government’s hotel chain and surrounding resorts, including the Milford Track, Chateau Tongariro and the Hermitage, leaving the Tourist Department responsible for publicity and policy, and maintaining the travel bureaux.

Scenic Playground: The Story Behind New Zealand’s Mountain Tourism is published by Te Papa Press.