New Zealand tourism “open for business” after massive earthquake

Tourism New Zealand has stressed that the country remains “open for business” despite a massive earthquake that struck Christchurch over the weekend.

The tourist board’s chief executive Kevin Bowler warned against all but essential travel to Christchurch, where a state of emergency has been declared, but said that the rest of the country had been unaffected and tourism was continuing normally.

Christchurch, the largest city on the Southern Island, was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Saturday morning, which caused the ground to shift by up to 11 feet, and was larger than the one that killed 200,000 people in Haiti earlier this year.

Much of the city centre remained sealed off and under curfew for a second night on Sunday.

More than 500 buildings have been badly damaged. Two men were seriously hurt by falling masonry but there have been no reports of deaths.

Source: BTN

06.09.10