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1929. NEW ZEALAND.

DEPARTMENT OF TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS (ANNUAL REPORT OF THE). BY THE MINISTER OF TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS, RIGHT HON. SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Hon. the Minister in Charge of Tourist and Health Resorts Department to His Excellency the Governor-General. Wellington, Ist June, 1929. I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts for the year ended 31st March, 1929. Joseph Ward, Minister of Tourist and Health Resorts. His Excellency the Governor-General of New Zealand. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GENERAL MANAGER OF TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS. Sir, — Wellington, 31st May, 1929. I have the honour to submit my report for the year ended 31st March, 1929. I have, &c., B. M. Wilson, General Manager. The Right Hon. Sir J. G. Ward, Minister of Tourist and Health Resorts. ANNUAL REPORT. The revenue of the Department during the financial year just ended continues to show a satisfactory increase, and has risen from £65,447 to £72,658, while the expenditure has increased from £76,865 to £82,987, which shows a difference between the receipts and expenditure of £10,329, an improvement in this respect of £1,089. The expenditure included a non-recurring item of £1,300, part payment from the Consolidated Fund of the cost of repairs to and a new engine for the s.s. " Tawera " on Lake Te Anau. In response to many requests the Department opened an office in Napier for the booking of tours there, and so far the business has been eminently satisfactory in its results. The main items of interest to the Department during the year were the opening of the hostel at Milford Sound, the new hostel at Waitomo Caves, and the opening of Mr. Sullivan's hostel at the Fox Glacier, Westland. All these matters will be referred to later. The near completion of the Rotorua-Waikaremoana Road via Ruatahuna brings up the question of the necessity for further additions to the Department's hostel at Waikaremoana, which, although only recently added to, will require further extensions to cope with the large flow of traffic that it is anticipated will come via this new route, which is one of exceptional beauty. A new launch has been ordered for the lake, the old one having done yeoman service for about a quarter of a century. The laying-out of play areas at Waitomo —i.e., tennis-courts, golf-links, &c. —has been gone into, so that visitors can find amusement after they have visited the Caves, and thereby be induced to stay longer at this Department's excellent hostel. The Department is contemplating the resumption of the Te Anau hostel and steamer, and the purchasing of the present building at Lake Manapouri —or, failing this, the erection of one on the Crown land adjacent to the lake. This action will bring the whole of the Fiordland country under the direct management of the Department —i.e., Lake Te Anau, Te Anau - Milford Track, Manapouri, and the Doubtful Sound Track —and should tend to greatly improve tourist traffic to this region.