Overview As he says during the recording, Bill's intention, on first being appointed General Manager of the THC Hotel in Te Anau in 1979, was to do the job for a couple of years and move on. Twenty-five years later he is still living in the town having played a prominent role in tourism in both Te Anau and Milford Sound. In this profile, Bill not only discusses tourism and the development of the hospitality industry in the region and across New Zealand, but he also provides an insight into the lives of...

Abstract Person recorded: William David (Bill) Neilsen Date: 11 March 2005Interviewer and Abstracter: Morag ForresterTape counter: Sony TCM 939Tape 1 Side A007: States his full name is WILLIAM DAVID NEILSEN and that he was born in 1934 in a maternity home in WESTPORT on the WEST COAST. 016: His home was in NGAKAWAU which he describes as a COAL-MINING town on the coast. Recalls the house was “just 25 yards...