Samoa’s tourism industry said it fears a “second tsunami” of vacation cancellations after deadly earthquake-triggered waves wiped out some of the South Pacific country’s most idyllic white-sand beaches and resorts.

Tourism is Samoa’s largest industry, and travel industry representatives visiting the main island’s wrecked southeast coast said Friday about one-quarter of the tourist accommodations had been destroyed.

Nynette Sass, chief executive of the Samoa Hotel Association, said the industry was alarmed by anecdotal reports of mass vacation cancellations since Tuesday’s disaster.

“If substantial numbers of tourists start canceling, that will be like having a second tsunami on us,” Sass said. The industry accounts for 25 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, she said.

The death toll rose to 170, including 129 in Samoa, 32 in the nearby U.S. territory of American Samoa and nine in Tonga.
Electricity and water services were restored in about half of the affected villages in Samoa and American Samoa, and residents tried to return to what was left of their lives.

Samoan tourist industry representatives said the damage on the southeast coastline of the main island of Upolu included four resorts and more than 20 family operations that rented simple traditional huts, known as fale.
Sass said many travelers did not realize the tsunami devastated a relatively small part of the coast, though the worst-hit beach area, between the villages of Saleapaga and Lalomanu, was widely regarded by tourists as the most beautiful.
“It’s sad that we’ve had to try to convince people that it’s not the whole country that’s flooded, infrastructure is still in place and the cleanup is going really fast,” she said.