South Island Earthquake    affect on tourism  

      On the 14th of November, 2016, New Zealand's South Island was struck with a magnitude 7.8 eartuqake which destoryed roads and railways. The earthquake especially harmed the small costal town of Kaikoura, cutting off all train and vehicle access.

 

       Over a thousand tourist were stranded in the town with no way out as the town didn't have an airport. They were only able to leave when the military sent a navy vessel and a helicopter. This event  difinitly made other potential tourists to the region.  The overall affect impact on the international tourism to New Zealand is not known, however the domestic tourism to this region was down over 10%, according to a report created for the Ministry of Transport of New Zealand.

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      Some ways this time of disaster could be avoided is for the town to have a airplane landing strip and/or coast guard boats prepared to ferry tourists out if this were to happen again. There isn't any way at the moment, to predict upcoming earthquakes, however they could make the roads and house more "earthquake proof" by using more resilient materials such as aluminum and steel instead of the brittle brick and stone. 

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      The town has definitely made some changes and these earthquakes are rare, so this should not sway your discission on whether or not you should travel to this fair country. 

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