By Alistair Wilkinson
The images of a ruined city have gone all around the world, and on the back of that Canterbury tourism experts say they'll need at least $5 million to repair the damage done to the region's international reputation by coverage about the earthquake.
But the Prime Minister says it's too early to start talking about promoting Canterbury again.
Australian Warren Smith today prepared to board the first TranzAlpine service since the earthquake forced it to stop.
"It does make you think about it a little bit, but the point being that it's good to come and help your economy isn't it?"
But not everyone takes Mr Smith's attitude. Pictures of the destruction have eroded confidence in Christchurch around the world.
"In a way they've sort of rebranded us as broken," says Tim Hunter of Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, "but for those of us who are here, you realise that the city is one of two halves - there is a lot of damage in the CBD and the east, but out here in the western suburbs and the airport, everything is working."
The airport is undergoing a major renovation, but none of it is related to the quake.
You may remember that Christchurch Airport was closed for four hours after the earthquake on February 22 - that was so engineers could check the buildings and the runway, but there were no problems anywhere.
Of course, stories like these don't make international headlines.
It will be up to New Zealand to repair Christchurch's reputation on the world stage - and that will cost.
"I believe the South Island would need $5 to $10 million at least to get that work being effective," says Mr Hunter.
Prime Minister John Key says it's too early to start promoting Christchurch.
"There's no point in advertising and promoting Christchurch today because we've got substantial work to be done to get Christchurch back up on its feet," he says.
He does however think there's case to mount a dedicated campaign in as little as three months' time.
3 News