After the natural disasters that hit New Zealand the country’s tourism has been affected hard. The traditional markets have been disappearing and New Zealand has even become inaccessible to some.

As if the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand wasn’t enough, the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle then goes and blows its top off to clog up the skies from Chile and the snow starts melting during the ski season. The tourism industry is unforgiving and New Zealand has been suffering as a result of such unfortunate circumstances.

Compared to last year, the figures look grim. Visits from nearby Australia have been down by 14.9%, whereas visits from Britain and the USA have been down 19.1% and 9.7% respectively. Tourism as a whole was down 10% in June this year when compared to 2010.

The ash cloud prevented visitors from flying to New Zealand, which is so far away from most countries that other methods of transport are deemed irrelevant. Furthermore, adverse weather conditions have reduced the skiing season from 4 months to a mere 3.

There is, however, hope that the situation will improve. This hope is not only fuelled by the belief that the weather will improve, yet among other things by the Rugby World Cup, which is due to start in September this year.

New Zealanders plan to make small amendments in their services to accommodate foreign visitors, particularly Chinese ones, even more than before in order to make up for the lost time.