We’re Supporting New Zealand Travel with #Blog4NZ

We’re Supporting New Zealand Travel with #Blog4NZ … you should too!

Mother Nature has been a destructive force these past few weeks with devastating earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan. Having recently traveled to both of these countries, we’ve found the horrific images on television and the internet hard to digest.

These tragic events have hit particularly close to home because we also live on this violent Ring of Fire. Seismologists have long said that Vancouver must seriously prepare for earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis because it’s inevitable that “the Big One” is on its way. This is a terrifying thought, one that is clearly magnified by the recent global events.

When we heard of this great initiative, put together by a group of New Zealand travel bloggers, we felt the need to get involved and support #Blog4NZ. After all, Canadians have a strong relationship with Kiwis, our Commonwealth sibling.

To better describe what the event is all about, here is an excerpt from the #Blog4NZ website:

#Blog4NZ is a grass-roots effort on the part of the international travel blogging community to promote all that is good about travel in New Zealand, Canterbury and Christchurch. It is a worldwide blogging event that is running from the 21st to 23nd of March — the one-month anniversary of the quake.

Following the devastating earthquake in Christchurch on February 22 this year, New Zealand has been in shock. It’s going to take a lot of love and a lot of cash to help rebuild the city. Tourism makes up approximately 10% of New Zealand’s GDP and it is essential for the world to know that New Zealand is open for business, and that it doesn’t look like a war zone.

So what can you do?

You don’t need to be a travel blogger to participate. From March 21 to 23, simply help spread the word by retweeting New Zealand articles, photos and blog posts with the hashtag #blog4NZ. Facebook like and share New Zealand content, give a thumbs up on Stumble Upon, share YouTube videos and Flickr photos, leave comments… every little bit helps!

Tourism is such an important part of the country’s economy, so it’s important to remind the world that New Zealand is still very much open for business. The goal is to flood the media channels with New Zealand travel and tourism content for 3 days, promoting it as a great destination for your next adventure.

Why should you Travel to New Zealand Now?

We spent a month touring New Zealand, driving from Auckland to Queenstown in a Jucy Campervan. One of our favourite memories is the Heli-Tour of The Remarkables Mountain Range in Queenstown. We had never been in a helicopter before, so the thrill of actually landing on a snow-capped mountain was a unique adventure.

The best time to take this Heli-tour is before the unpredictable winter season but close enough to winter that the mountains are snow-capped (we went in the middle of May). Below are some photos from that memorable afternoon on top of the world.

Who’s behind Blog4NZ?

Blog4NZ is being organized by a small group of travel bloggers in collaboration with key tourism groups in New Zealand. Most organization is being done by:

• Jim McIntosh from Holes in My Soles
• John Reese from the French Way Travel Blog
• Craig Martin from the Indie Travel Podcast
• Dan Roberts from Travel Generation

To learn more, visit the website – http://blog4nz.indietravelmedia.com/

Of course, we also encourage you to make a financial contribution to help the victims of this natural disaster.
If you don’t know where to donate, try the Red Cross – http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

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Have you traveled to New Zealand?
Share your experiences and/or links to photos and blog posts below!