Cook Islands tourism unaffected by novel coronavirus: Bank

Avarua: Coronavirus is unlikely to affect the tourism industry in the Cook Islands and the rest of the Pacific, says a leading New Zealand bank.

Analysts at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) said coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak had caused enormous disruption to people’s lives and impeded international travel.

While the coronavirus is expected to affect the economic activity of many countries, they said the Pacific Island economies, including the Cook Islands, would be “relatively insulated”.

Halatoa Fua, the chief executive of Cook Islands Tourism, said their key focus was to prevent the virus from entering the country.