Helping hand holidays on offer

Aid agencies are turning away thousands of New Zealanders offering to work in tsunami-ravaged countries, but an Auckland travel company has found an opportunity for them in the tourism market.

World Discovery Tours is offering a sightseeing and aid tour to Sri Lanka, leaving on January 20.

The trip offers five days of sightseeing and a minimum of four days working to help rebuild a fishing village, most likely Paiyagala in the Kalutara district, about 70km south of Columbo.

Managing director Stephen Greenfield said a lot of New Zealanders wanted to help but did not know how.

"Many would like to do more than just pour funds into a great pot with no real control or knowledge of where it goes."

He rejected the view that reconstruction work should be left to professionals.

"Where are we going to find professionals in such numbers? Also there are properties and material that are not damaged in a major way and we don't need professionals to help with those."

If successful, Mr Greenfield said the company would "adopt" the village for the rest of the year and take more tour groups.

He said the trip was being done at cost with reduced airfares, hotels dropping their prices and travel agents in New Zealand and Sri Lanka doing the organisation for nothing.

"It's a help-and-hope kind of thing we're doing, letting people know there are people out there who care."

Transport and equipment would be provided by the Sri Lankan Navy while the group worked on the project.

The Red Cross has turned away more than 1000 New Zealanders offering to work without payment in countries hit by the tsunami.

New Zealand Red Cross spokeswoman Christine Langdon said the only contribution the charity was accepting was money.

The Red Cross was organising its volunteers through its international headquarters in Geneva, which could call on "a huge resource of personnel who are trained, ready and experienced".

Meanwhile, tourism operators are still encouraging people to travel to the affected countries, although they are offering the opportunity to rebook or change destinations.

Several travel operators had cancelled trips to Sri Lanka but these were expected to resume before the end of the month.

Most of the affected areas expected it would be at least a year before they were fully operational again.

Most hotels in the Maldives have reopened.

Richard Hume, of the Tourism Association of Thailand, said Phuket should be back to normal within a month but Khao Lak would take longer. Hotels there expect to be closed until April.

In India little of the tourism infrastructure was affected but rebuilding in some areas is expected to take one to two years.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommends New Zealanders do not travel to northern Sumatra's west coast, including Aceh and offshore islands.

- additional reporting Jim Eagles, NZPA