Quarantine plans for wealthy overseas visitors
Starting an overseas holiday with two weeks quarantine may not sound deeply appealing, but a tour operator says well-heeled clients are prepared to do it.
Both National and ACT party border control policies would allow foreign tourists to stay in privately managed isolation facilities that met strict rules.
That is heartening news for Active Adventures chief executive Wendy van Lieshout who has proposed bringing in small groups of overseas visitors for guided hiking, biking and kayaking trips.
The package, including two weeks in an isolation facility, would cost $15,000 to $20,000 per person, and she said that if up to
700 people were allowed in over the coming summer, they would generate $10 million to $15m in tourism income, and contribute
$1.5m towards running quarantine facilities.
Based on a survey of her client database, Leishout is confident there would be takers, and despite Tourism New Zealand and NZ Trade and Enterprise both rejecting the idea, she is not giving up.
‘‘The reaction was, ‘at this point, no,’ but it’s not going to hurt to box on because it may come down the track and we want to be at the front of the queue.’’
Van Leishout said she would prefer guests to sit out the isolation period in privately run lodges, and putting them into government-managed isolation was a compromise to get things over the line.
‘‘It’s going to be a harder sell than if we could sell it as a lodge stay with Active Adventures guides being with you for two weeks teaching you about the flora and fauna, and taking yoga on the lawn, as opposed to being jammed in the Sudima [isolation hotel] for two weeks.’’
Ahipara Luxury Travel founder Jean-Michel Jefferson said Covid-19 had not deterred wellheeled travellers.
‘‘We get inquiries every week.
Jean-Michel Jefferson Ahipara Luxury Travel founder
‘When will you open? Can we come for Christmas?’ I say ‘no, not with this bunch in charge’.’’
Jefferson said he and other inbound tour operators at the luxury end of the market could charter an aircraft and work together to fill it, testing passengers before and after arrival in New Zealand, then having them hunker down for three days in a remote location to await results.
He favoured a ‘‘mobile quarantine’’ where guests remained in a bubble with their guide, and practised social distancing when they interacted with tour operators such as helicopter pilots.
‘‘I think it’s absolutely safe, and we can demonstrate it. But the public think we are one step away from the bubonic plague, so we may as well give up and live off the state.’’
ACT leader David Seymour said the best way to save the tourism industry was to open the borders as quickly and as safely as possible.
The private sector could supplement the government-run system and allow in high-value foreign tourists, with shorter quarantine times for those coming from lower-risk countries, such as Taiwan.
Asked what would happen if one member of a tour group tested positive while in isolation, he said the rest of the group would need to start their 14-day stay again.
In announcing National’s smarter border policy, Covid-19 response spokesman Gerry Brownlee said tourism providers would be able to offer managed isolation in approved private accommodation as part of their packages if they met the necessary safety requirements.
A spokesman for Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said this was not something being currently considered by the Government because its emphasis was on a safe and secure border.
That meant having controls in place, which wouldn’t be possible with visitors completing quarantine in private accommodation.
‘‘I think it’s absolutely safe, and we can demonstrate it.’’