Since the National Crisis Management Centre's advisory against non-essential travel to Christchurch city was dropped on Tuesday, Destination Queenstown (DQ) has been striving to push the message that "New Zealand tourism is absolutely open and operating".
DQ communications manager Jen Andrews applauded the "fantastic" work by Queenstown agencies in caring for displaced Christchurch people, but said the tourism industry was shifting its attention to economic impacts, and recovery strategies.
"While the immediate need is still to help those affected by the earthquake in any way we can, given the importance of tourism to New Zealand's economy, we also need to focus on ensuring it remains strong and vibrant because it will be a critical factor in helping Christchurch rebuild and recover."
Ms Andrews said it was still too early to tell what sort of impact the earthquake would have on Queenstown and New Zealand's tourism.
"While we've had some cancellations around town, particularly from the Asia-Japan market which is traditionally more risk-sensitive, we've also experienced some pick-up from displaced visitors and Cantabrians."
