Enough Hotels

Fiji’S Annual Wail

Monied Tourists But Not Enough Hotels

SIGNS of the slow, but steady growth of the Fiji Tourist traffic are in evidence. In dividuals and parties began to appear in April, as the hot weather receded, and the coming months promise a profitable season. Reports say that plenty of travellers are booked already for Fiji.

The big tourist buses introduced by Whites Travel Agency last year to provide services entirely for tourists have now changed over to scheduled road services for all and sundry—quite a big and important advance for Fiji.

They provide an alternative for the overseas traveller who does not wish to travel by air and who wishes to see the country, but finds the hire-car rates a little high.

Some attractive tourist and sightseeing cars have just been put on the roads by Hunts Travel Ser vice—the business started modestly by Mrs. Iris Hunt a few years ago, and now grown into a big and flourishing concern.

The hotel position has not im proved, and now is a very serious travel bottleneck, except for Sir Hugh Ragg’s now famous Korolevu

Hotel, on the South Coast, no new hotel has been built for years.

There still is no resumption of building operations on the South Seas Hotel, the concrete skeleton of which lies gaunt and unlovely at the corner of Gordon St. and Victoria Parade, in Suva. Some arrange ment under which the 23-bedrooms building, when completed, will be be run as a first-class hotel, was leased to Northern Hotels Ltd., to be run as a first-class hotel was made four months ago. But apparently details of shape and cost have not been completed yet. t The French Naval sloop Con fiance arrived in Noumea recently from France. Confiance is convoy ing two naval patrol boats, one destined for New Caledonia and the other for Tahiti. They will replace the two patrol boats which have been on the Oceanic stations now for a few years, the Tiare and the Lotus. The two new craft are named Petunia and Zinnia. However, with the retirement of the two now in service their names will pass to the new vessels. Confiance replaces the Dumont d’Urville, flagship of Ad miral Toulouse Lautrec Montfa.

Dumont d’Urville will be scrapped. tF The Administrator and Mrs Norman, of Norfolk Island, are at present absent from the Island on leave during which their daughter Deborah will be married to Mr.

Timothy Bird, of Ceylon. During Brigadier Norman’s absence official duties are being carried out by the Official Secretary of NI, Mr C. I.

Buffett.