How is the tourism industry recovering after the earthquake in Kaiikura, New Zealand?

The tourism industry in the New Zealand town of Kaiikura is recovering slowly after the earthquake

Statistics New Zealand released data on the 14th showing that the tourist town of Kaiikura, located in the South Island, is experiencing One year after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the hard-hit tourism industry has recovered, but the process is slow.

On November 14, 2016, a major earthquake in the Kai'ikura area caused the closure of New Zealand Highway 1 through the town, and Kai'ikura became an "isolated city" for a time. Authoritative data shows that due to the earthquake, the total number of days tourists stayed in the Kaiikoura region dropped by 80% year-on-year in December 2016.

In January 2017, the total number of days tourists stayed in the Kaiikoura region recovered, but it was still 61% lower than in January 2016. Since then, Kai'ikura's tourism industry has gradually recovered, and by August 2017, the total number of days tourists stayed increased year-on-year for the first time.

However, from the data point of view, the total number of days tourists stayed in Kaiikura only returned to previous levels during the traditional tourism off-season, and still dropped significantly during the peak tourism season around January. As of September 2017, passenger length of stay in Kaiikura in the 12 months dropped by 40% compared to the same period in 2016.

Looking at the source of tourists, 57% of those who visited Kaiikura in the year to September 2017 were from New Zealand, which was 12 percentage points higher than a similar survey in September 2016.

Tourism is an important pillar of Kaiikoura's economy. In the past, retail and tourism sales during the peak tourist season were 50% higher than during the off-season. In the fourth quarter of 2016, retail and tourism sales fell 25% year-on-year due to the earthquake.

November is the spring in the southern hemisphere, and it is also the time when the peak season of the New Zealand tourism industry gradually begins. With the opening of the road south of Kai'ikura in the first quarter of 2017, local retail and tourism sales, which sell whale watching and other tourism projects, have rebounded. The clearance of the landslide on Highway 1 north of Kaiikura has not yet been completed and is expected to be reopened to traffic before Christmas this year.