Garrick Tremain's cartoon for the Otago Daily Times sparked an immediate backlash online - being labelled racist, heartless and insensitive.
The newspaper apologised for publishing the cartoon which it said was a deeply regrettable error in judgement. "The content and the timing of the cartoon were insensitive," Otago Daily Times editor Barry Stewart wrote.
It shows two people walking out of a travel agent and one remarking that the least popular spots right now are the ones people are picking up in Samoa.