They say a nationwide effort is under way to reassure travel wholesalers and agents overseas that the rest of the country is unaffected.
Tourism Export Council chief executive Lesley Immink said inbound tour operators were ''heads-down'' changing itineraries where necessary and spreading a ''business as usual'' message.
Most travellers were ''sophisticated consumers who can read between the lines'' and knew New Zealand remained a safe place to visit, especially compared with other parts of the world, Ms Immink said.
Hotel consultant and Queenstown Lakes District councillor Penny Clark said any impact was likely to be minor, but she was keen for the resort's big tourism players to meet and discuss the situation.
''We can't just sit here and react - we need to be in control of the situation.''
Ms Clark said people abroad could gain a false impression of the scale of the disaster from dramatic images in the news.
''After the Christchurch earthquake we certainly felt some impact - even from Australia - with people thinking the whole South Island had had an earthquake so you couldn't go there.''
''I think we're going to be busy enough this summer, but it may moderate things.''
Independent, self-driving travellers were more likely to be deterred than large tour groups, she said.
Destination Queenstown marketing and communications director Sarah O'Donnell said it was working with the national Visitor Sector Emergency Advisory Group to develop ''key messaging'' in response to the earthquake.
''The industry is working collaboratively to promote the message internationally that outside the directly affected areas, the rest of New Zealand is open for business.''
