Bookings from Japan for tours of New Zealand in May and June were down about 75% as a result of swine-flu fears, NZPA reported.
However, Japan Connect managing director Yoji Kimura said bookings were down by only about 20% in Queenstown. Japan Connect is a marketing company aimed at promoting Queenstown to the Japanese market.
Mr Kimura said Queenstown was lucky the swine-flu fears had hit in the off-peak season. If it had hit in October or November, Queenstown tourism operators would have suffered "huge damage", he said.
Most of the May and June travellers from Japan were school groups which usually stayed in the North Island and did not travel to Queenstown anyway, he said.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Stephen Pahl said he had heard no evidence that fewer Japanese tourists were coming to Queenstown.
He said Japanese travellers were very health conscious and were more reactive to health scares.
Southern Travel chief executive Jacqueline Walshe said nearly 700 Japanese travellers had cancelled bookings to New Zealand within the past week as a result of flu fears.
The cancellations had hit her company hard, and it now faced making a loss in the year to June.
An advisory notice from the Japanese Education Ministry to schools to reconsider trips to New Zealand had had a major impact, Ms Walshe said.
The company had not seen the same effect in other markets.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said that although there had been pockets of swine flu-related concern from other markets, Japan's reaction was the most significant.
Japanese travellers were more sensitive to health scares and government warnings, he said.
"We see it every time."
Ironically, Japan now has four of its own swine flu victims, and New Zealand has reported no new confirmed or probable cases since Saturday.
The number of confirmed cases remains at seven, with 12 probable cases.
Indications from tourism operators suggest up to 2000 visitors may have cancelled visits to this country because of swine flu fears, an industry representative says.
Air New Zealand said long-haul passenger numbers fell 12% in April from the same month last year, including a 14% fall on the Asia/Japan/United Kingdom routes.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show a fall of 11% in the number of guest nights spent in short-term commercial accommodation during March compared with a year earlier.
SNZ drew attention to the timing of Easter in April this year, rather than March as in 2008, but it could not quantify the impact.
- Joanne Carroll.
