The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-12-31
THE TOURIST QUESTION.

pafo came TO visit remained 70 live and
thar is result which any American
town that becomes q favorite tourist
resort may anticipate. COLORADO
springs. Jaelsonsfie. Fla. San An1o-
Mo. Texas, the Sound cities. San Fran
Cisco. San Jose. santa Barbara, and
San Iaego have been built up in part
by people who went 70 them originally
as tourists. HoneIulu mas also had such
aceratiens, thongn. in the past. an alien
government. disturbed conditions ana
the lack af cable. worked against .
heavy gain fr0u this source
These obstacles are no longer to be
feared. Foreign rule has passed irtu
history; the era Of physical revolutions
came to an end with the raising Of the
new nag: the cable is now at the point
Of completion. Meanwhile Hawaii has
added raueh TO its facilities for taking
care of strangers. This is not now a
lene-hofel town. Splendid hosteiries are
iours 10 command and to anticipate The
/ Moana at Waikiki and Haieiwa al War
alua are commodions modern strnet-
nres; the old Hawaiian hotel has ex-
paIded into a most satisfactory abiding
place; the Alexander Young Hotel, now
nearly finished, is probably larger than
any hvta the city OF New York had for
" years ago and it would do credit TO
San francisco today. There are an
nexes, small hotels and boarding houses
enough to absorb a throng of tourists
ana If more accommodation are need
ed the money is ready to provide them.
Added TO all this is an improvement
in methods and means of transporta-
sisn from the Coast and around the
Islands. Ten years ago the old lis
traIia was the one ship of tbs. ferry ser
vice with the Alariposa and Alameua
running through to the Colonies. The
China was the largest ship of the
oriental fleet Most Of the steamers
were seven-day boats. Now the new
Spreekels leviathans, three in number,
the gigantic Korea and Siberia of the
Pacific Mail line and vessels of the old
feet which have been improved in the
matter CT speed. have cut down the
time of the ocean journey and augment
ed its comforts For irter-isIand use
there is a feet of excellent steamers, /
well found and commanded. and ashore
the roads and bridges have been i'm
proved and the great scenic attractions
of the group made accessible. Tourists
can get here sooner, find better hous 1
ing and see more of Hawaii than ever
before
Better steamship service, with its
qualities of refrigeration, have ampn-
fed. the local menu. Tourists need not
live, as Mark Twain said he cid many
yearssago. on climate, fish ard poi. The
edible resources of San Francisco have
been added to those Of Hawaii itself
Indeed, ali the comforts of life are with
us now, the electric light, telephone,
rapid transit, the voiuminous daily pa
per. not infreauent anusements of &.
good class. churches of most Christian
determinations. stores weIl-fned-all the
coneomftants, in fact, Of American civ
3Iization. In wealth. refinement and ur-
ban charm Honolulu offers the tourist
his customary social surroundings and
puts them in q wider setting of tropical
beauty and glamour, and invests them
with the novelty that comes of strange.
races and historical romance
In a word. Honolulu is now ready for
all the tourists who viii come-ready
as it never was before and. with more
10 offer than many places whi6h are an.
nua1Iy crowded with seekers for pleas.
ure and health. What remains is To-
advertise the place and organize e2.pees
ditions to ito make Honolulu a tour
isl fad This is simply a matter Of
means and enterprise; in short, of bus
mess capacity such as has elevated Los
Angeles from city of 10000 to one OF
10000 Tourists do not go aimlessly in
search Of a spot they may like They
want to know in advance what a place
has to offer. They look for infor1ma-
ton and if it is wanting they conclude
there is nothing to be said and easily
take another tack The place that does
not work for tourists fails to get them.
and in losing them also loses most de-
sirable addition to its roster Of perrlla-i
nent inhabitants. It does not take much
to turn the man Of means, who finds
health and satisfaction in a strange
city, into a resident of it; and if Homo
lulu wants TO grow. it can do nothing
better than to study the advertising
methods of the Sound cities and of Los
Angeles and copy them as closely as
circumstances VIII permit.
The cable is slow now but it Viii be
1 swift enough later on