In the middle phased border reopening, tourism NZ faces major challenges

Friday, March 11, 2022

After keeping the borders closed for almost two years, in New Zealand, the year of 2022 is the reopening of tourism industry as the government signalled, “but it will still be bumpy road ahead,” Rene de Monchy, Head of Tourism New Zealand, told Xinhua on Thursday.

The government of New Zealand from March removed COVID-19 isolation requirements. For the recovery of tourism, it’s one of the biggest obstacles for vaccinated Kiwis. The policy in 2022 is expected to cover eligible international travellers.

As per current five-step phased plan of the government, by April, the holders of eligible work visa and student visa will be allowed to enter the country with no requirement of quarantine, and international visitors are free to come to New Zealand from all over the world no later by October.

For New Zealand economy, tourism was one of the pillar industries however it got massively hit hard by the pandemic in the past two years with tourism operators saying that their industry ha sgot destroyed.

Lisa Li, managing director of China Travel Service NZ, whose business mainly depends on tourists from China, explained that after two years of struggling, her company is lucky to maintain one third of its workforce. However, most of the travel agencies now are short of experienced staff.

De Monchy accepted the hit the industry had taken, but said “I think the industry will be very focused on reopening, coming out of being dormant, reopening their doors, rehiring and hiring new staff,” he said.

He also said that for Tourism New Zealand, part of their plans was a ramp up in travel trade with the organization training up to 80,000 travel agents to make sure about the promotion of New Zealand in post-COVID era.

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