‘‘New Zealand is still a bucket list destination for a lot of people, it’s still a beautiful country with a lot to offer. We just need to make it easier for them to get here.’’
For 31-year-old Australian Stephen Gray, who is living in London, New Zealand’s Covid response wouldn’t stop him from travelling here.
‘‘As far as I know, they’ve been taking the measures necessary to protect the country as needed.
‘‘Much better than they have been doing here.’’
Tourism Minister Stuart Nash is more optimistic, but agreed that in a world still battling Covid-19, travellers will be discerning about where they go in the short term. But, he said, Government marketing via Tourism NZ had kept New Zealand’s brand alive internationally during the last two years.
‘‘We have invested more than $100 million in the agency. They advise that New Zealand remains desirable in the minds of international tourists – and this is incredibly important.’’
Tourism NZ had also invested heavily in the past two years to link up and train 80,000 foreign travel agents about how to connect with New Zealand tourist operators.
Nash said last week there had been a noticeable increase in demand for airline travel from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, and that the way New Zealand handled the pandemic was a competitive advantage over other travel destinations. ‘‘It has reinforced our international image as a nation that cares about people.’’ Nash said the return of tourists was expected to be a slow burn and would be measured.
The first few months it was expected people would travel mainly to connect with friends or family, and then it would pick up for winter holidays, ski tourism, and summer 2022/23.
‘‘It’s also worth remembering the months of May to October were traditionally the quietest time for international travel to New Zealand, pre-Covid.’’
House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said what was really holding visitors back was the testing requirements to get in.
Tourists will need to be vaccinated and test negative in a pre-departure test, which could be a PCR test or supervised LAMP test or RAT.
They will be provided with RATs on arrival and need to take a test on arrival and on day five or six.
Thomas said there were a number of countries that had removed testing requirements and made themselves much more desirable to tourists.
‘‘New Zealand is still a bucket list destination for a lot of people, it’s still a beautiful country with a lot to offer. We just need to make it easier for them to get here.’’