Dr Caroline Orchiston, who studied the potential impact of an Alpine Fault earthquake on the New Zealand tourism industry as part of her thesis, said "this event has hit the world headlines".
"Talk of many aftershocks could well put people off coming on pre-booked visits," the Otago University Tourism Department teaching fellow said from Seattle yesterday.
"It is very important that government officials send out a clear message that tourism activities in the rest of the country are business as usual."
Dr Orchiston's thesis focused on the Alpine Fault, which runs the length of the South Island, and the threat it poses to the tourism destinations of Milford Sound, Queenstown, Mt Cook, and the West Coast.
Many of the issues discussed in her research, particularly access for visitors and people deciding not to visit due to infrastructural damage, would have parallels with what was happening in Canterbury, she said.
A "saving grace" for the Canterbury tourism industry was that the quake occurred during the low season.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said Tourism New Zealand had been working with Christchurch and Canterbury tourism officials and Civil Defence to get up-to-date, accurate information to travellers.
"We're also working to reassure those transiting through Christchurch to other regions that their holidays will be unaffected."
He said it was too early to estimate the impact of the earthquake on visitor numbers, "but clearly it will have an impact".
As far as he knew, cancellation numbers had been small so far.
