Resort fields rush of bookings

Within 48 hours of the Government’s announcement of a trans-tasman bubble, one of Marlborough’s most luxurious resorts experienced a ‘‘significant spike’’ of enquiries and bookings from Australia.

Bay of Many Coves general manager Graeme Smith said this winter was shaping up to be one of the best they’ve ever had at the luxury lodge.

‘‘That level of activity over winter is not something that we would normally experience, but we are experiencing it from Australia. It is all positive,’’ Smith said.

‘‘I think people are ready to travel – they are sick of being locked down. Plus there are families who want to reconnect.’’

Australians will be able to fly into New Zealand with no quarantine requirements for the first time in more than a year from this Monday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the start date of the longawaited trans-tasman bubble on April 6 and outlined the requirements for travellers flying between the two countries.

The first flight to depart Australia under the new arrangement will be Jetstar flight 201 from Sydney to Auckland at 6.15am.

The first Qantas flight to depart will leave Melbourne for Auckland at 8am, while the first Air New Zealand flight departs from Sydney to Wellington at 8.55am the same day.

Smith said the region had done an incredible amount of work to market itself and position Marlborough as a destination of choice.

Smith said the majority of travellers staying at the five-star resort usually came from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Australia hadn’t traditionally been a big market for the luxury lodge, Smith said, but now that New Zealand’s bigger neighbour was the only international border opened, the resort had benefited from it.

‘‘Our bookings start coming in the beginning of May and are right through the winter, for the next five months, which is even more encouraging,’’ Smith said.

The resort would be employing more staff, going from 10 to 14.

Destination Marlborough general manager Jacqui Lloyd said Australia had always been Marlborough’s largest international market, making up about 25 per cent of international visitor expenditure in the region.

‘‘As soon as there was a commencement date announced, we were able to swing into action because we have got most of the plan in place,’’ she said.

Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said the company was looking forward to a bumper season in Marlborough.

‘‘In the days following the bubble announcement, we saw tens of thousands of customers book flights to Aotearoa, and we expect many of them to visit places like Marlborough.

‘‘In 2019, we flew 11,700 passengers from Australia to and from Blenheim and this was just passengers who booked directly through to Blenheim,’’ Geraghty said.

‘‘There will be many more who flew on to Marlborough on a separate regional flight after a stopover in the main centres or took other transport.’’

According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Australian tourists and business travellers spent $35 million in Marlborough in 2019.