The Dinkum Tourist?

When Niue airstrip is completed in two years, the problem will be:

What Will They Do With

From a Niue correspondent The Hakupu Hilton, the Matalau Motel and the Hiku tavake Hotel are jokes on Niue—there is no public accommoda tion on the island.

But things will have to change ten Niue’s airfield is completed in proximately two years. The crews aircraft will want accommodation, [ey may be scheduled in and out Niue in one day, but aircraft netimes have troubles.

And with the planes will come itors of all sorts—tourists, advisers, ormation gatherers, members of rliament —and they will all want :ommodation.

Which adds up to one thing; Niue 1 need a hotel. 3 eople who visit Niue today are irded with residents. The recent ith Pacific Commission’s seminar on Ration and course on farm man ment had participants scattered aughout Alofi.

You need friends

•Jo private persons visit Niue un they have relations or friends on island. tnportant visitors sometimes stay he Residency of the Resident Com sioner, but until recently (when vo-bedroom annex was built for ”s) the Residency was only a large e-bedroom house, and if the en ibent Resident Commissioner had :ral children, the children had to 'e out of their bedrooms for the :ors. □metimes visitors are accommo d at the Administration’s bachelor rters. ourists will mean a lot of changes Niue, of course. At the moment -Niueans need a landing permit et foot on Niue soil, so presum r the permit regulations would 2 to be changed, he liquor laws would have to be iged, too. At present liquor is 2d to permanent residents under ;rmit system of so many points a ith, so that would have to be lifted. A hotel would want to sell or to guests, and perhaps also to nanent residents. ach a hotel would add a new

dimension to life on Niue if it was possible for locals to dine and dance and have a drink in civilised sur roundings.

And if the hotel had a swimming pool so much the better—but that would certainly have to be for guests only, otherwise it would be swamped with locals wanting a dip.

What would tourists do on Niue?

Well, the island isn’t a tourist paradise m the jet-set sense. It’s not beautiful —a 100-square mile lump of solid coral rock—and there are no taxis, although there’s nothing to stop someone starting a taxi service. And there’s little to buy on Niue except baskets and other woven ware.

However, lower terraces of the island are riddled with caves, which would keep cave explorers happy, and there’s a nine hole golf course, and (New Zealanders note) NZ currency is used.

But even if there is not an awful lot to do and see by “swinging” standards, there is sun, plenty of it, and the Niueans are a pleasant people.

If you want to get away from it all, Niue is a good bet.

THHE Sitmar Line, which has been A running cruises with its liners to many major Pacific Islands ports for several years, will make its first appearance in the New Hebrides when its liner Fairstar anchors off Vila on Christmas Day this year.

Fairstar will offload its passengers with its own boats for a six-hour visit to Vila as part of an eight-day cruise from Sydney.

Sitmar’s New South Wales manager, Mr. George Grieshaber, told PIM his company would step up its cruising operations in the South Pacific after it received two refur bished liners, Fairwind and Fairlands, which it had bought recently from the Cunard Line.

Fitted with stabilisers and capable of carrying 1,600 passengers, they would be ready for service in the last half of next year.