New Zealand phased reopening bitter-sweet
Move will still cost billions of dollars in lost export earnings
As New Zealand gears up to allow Kiwis to travel from Australia on February 27, the first step in a phased reopening strategy, Hospitality New Zealand (HNZ) has described the move as “bitter-sweet” given it will still cost the country billions of dollars in lost earnings.
As part of the strategy, from February 27, New Zealanders can travel quarantine-free from Australia, from March 13 New Zealanders arriving from other countries and some vaccinated skilled workers and backpackers can enter on a quarantine-free basis, and from April 12 up to 5,000 international students will be allowed into the country.
The government is expected to allow citizens from visa-waiver countries, including Australia, the UK, and the US entry into New Zealand from July.
However, the rest of the world will have to wait until October when the country’s borders are fully reopened.
HNZ CEO, Julie White said while the announcement means internationally stranded Kiwis will finally be allowed to come home, the billions of dollars lost in export earnings and GDP from the absence of tourists and slow return of visa-based workers will continue indefinitely.
“It’s a bitter-sweet announcement,” she said.
“The emotional trauma of Kiwis stuck abroad ends, but the economic trauma will continue into 2023 and 2024.
“The requirement of self-isolation and some MIQ means there will be no tourists until 2023 at the earliest, and the desperate labour shortage will continue as the world will be slow to take up work visas here.”
But, she said, today’s announcement also means that tourists, essential to hospitality and many other sectors, are still at least a year from coming and despite opening to work visas, the pace of uptake is far from certain.
“New Zealand is mostly closed for the rest of the year – or half-closed at best. The ten days isolation rule will stop almost any tourist visiting. We will miss the big tourism season and that could embed a pattern for years more of tourists going elsewhere,” she said.
“We might have more workers and Kiwi customers later this year, but right now many of our members aren’t even sure they’ll make it through summer. The staged opening does little to assist the ‘cautious’ principle, as Omicron is already here and will arrive with returning New Zealanders
“The nation is vaccinated and boosted. What is the point of an isolation period longer than the international standard, and what is the difference between the influx of tens of thousands of returning Kiwis, and tens of thousands of tourists.”
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
