Kiwi hospitality key to rekindling our relationship with travellers

After weeks of ill tidings about skyrocketing Covid numbers and violent protests at Parliament, one great story this week signalled to the world that New Zealand was back.

‘‘It Could’ve Been the World’s Largest Potato, if Only It Were a Potato’’, read a New York Times headline on Thursday.

Within a few hours, the story had become the mostread article on the Times website, giving a war-weary public something to smile about.

While potato-gate hogged the limelight, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement the previous day that New Zealand would be opening its borders to travel-starved Americans from May passed without great fanfare.

Covid has left a huge, pentup demand to visit distant shores, and US consumers’ wallets are bulging as the domestic economy continues to rebound strongly from the pandemic.

A recent Ipsos MORITripadvisor survey found 29 per cent of Americans said they were likely to head overseas in 2022, with nearly half citing new travel experiences as more important to them now than before the pandemic.

But Covid has fundamentally changed the nature of international travel. Testing requirements, flight mask-mandates, the prospect of becoming caught up in a snap lockdown or getting sick in an unfamiliar country will weigh heavily on the minds of Americans contemplating a trip across the Pacific.

Complicating the picture is New Zealand’s current status as a Covid hotspot with one of the highest infection rates in the world.

The US Centers for Disease Control recently issued a warning to avoid travel to New Zealand.

But let’s assume the Omicron wave fades as quickly as it has elsewhere and cases have tailed off by May.

Before anyone goes dusting off the 100% Pure NZ marketing campaign, or Air New Zealand hires Snoop Dogg to make another safety video, those in charge would be wise to take into account some of the profound societal shifts that have occurred in the past 24 months.

Perhaps the biggest has been in the labour market.

The Great Resignation saw nearly 48 million Americans voluntarily leave their jobs last year, with many rethinking their priorities and going in search of lifestyles that give them greater freedom and better working conditions.

I recently struck up a conversation with the owner of a popular bagel store chain who said he had been exploring residency options in New Zealand prior to the pandemic.

He had spoken to a lawyer and tallied his score on the Immigration NZ points indicator, and viewed Covid as a temporary handbrake, rather than a reason to rethink the move.

Countries like Portugal, Barbados, Colombia and Estonia (prior to the Ukraine crisis) have responded by throwing open their doors to

Americans with a wanderlust, seeking to bring in much-needed tax dollars.

Perhaps therein lies the future of long-haul travel: Flexible, hybrid visas that allow digital nomads and business owners to traipse between long-term Airbnb stays while enjoying the best experiences a country has to offer.

Spending six months or more working remotely may be exactly the kind of break that American travellers are looking for – an added bonus being that the average internet connection in New Zealand is more reliable and often speedier than home connections in the US.

And news that Air New Zealand is looking to relaunch direct flights at the end of 2022 from Auckland to Newark Liberty Airport, 20km from Manhattan, is another welcome sign.

Crucial to the success of New Zealand will be the hospitality that these first visitors encounter.

Anecdotally, Aotearoa still holds an overwhelmingly positive image in the minds of most Americans.

It will be up to the tourism industry and Government to somehow make New Zealand part of the Great Reopening conversation.