Tourists cancel trips amid earthquake fears

Disruption to visitor itineraries and fears that New Zealand is not a safe destination are already affecting tourism.
Nervous international travellers are cancelling trips to New Zealand in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake on February 22 and others are being forced to skip sections of their itineraries to avoid the stricken area.
Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing general manager Don Gunn said international reporting of the disaster had been extensive and New Zealand had been placed on a "travel alert".
"Our concern is the perception in international markets that the travel warning applies to the whole country."
Gunn said Tourism New Zealand, the Tourism Industry Association and the Inbound Tour Operators' Council were working on how to address this and adapt group itineraries while Christchurch was out of action.
"It's about getting the message out that yes, we have had this terrible situation in Christchurch, but the rest of New Zealand is fine."
But Skyline Rotorua general manager Neville Nicholson said his attraction alone had already had cancellations totalling 450 people and he believed this was just "the tip of the iceberg".

He said cancellations related to groups trapped in Christchurch, those with itinerary disruptions and people deciding not to visit New Zealand.
Because Christchurch is such an integral part of the tourism distribution network, Nicholson said people's options were quite limited. "We need to pull together key organisations from tourism, transport, airlines and operators to work out how we can get through this."
Inbound Tour Operators' Council member Stuart Brown, of Rainbow Springs, said he, too, had seen cancellations. "It hasn't been significant at this stage and we are getting some inquiries from people re-routing around Christchurch and looking to travel to Rotorua."
But he said the earthquake could shake confidence in  markets such as Japan, which was  returning to positive growth after the recession and swine flu.
"It is a case of Tourism New Zealand ensuring people know the rest of New Zealand is open and it is critical that, for all operators not affected, it is business as usual."
Rotorua Tourism Committee member Marcus Keenan, of the Holiday Inn, said hotels had received a number of cancellations.
"I think we are all going to be feeling the impact for a while, until people realise we are 900km apart [from Christchurch] and we are in different islands."
Keenan said  it was important to develop a "plan B" to take the pressure off while damage to tourism infrastructure was assessed and rebuilding took place.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said the industry continued to provide support and care for people affected by the earthquake, but attention was now shifting to the economic impacts.
While it was still far too early to quantify the effect on tourism, he said a clearer picture would emerge once access restrictions were lifted.
Bowler stressed that reassuring overseas markets about the localisation of the damage was a priority.
"Christchurch Airport is open and operating normally and remains an important gateway into the South Island. This means that, while people are advised against non-essential travel to Christchurch city, we are encouraging visitors to continue with plans to visit New Zealand."
Tourism New Zealand is working to ensure travel advisories  do not  advise against travel to the rest of New Zealand.