Travel operators are cautiously optimistic over a potential trans-Tasman travel bubble, the former CEO of Tourism New Zealand says.
It comes as Cabinet is expected to discuss arrangements for travel from New Zealand to individual Australian states later today.
Stephen England-Hall, the new head of tourism company Wayfare, told Breakfast areas such as Queenstown, Milford Sound, Te Anau and Franz Josef are “all impacted quite significantly by the arrival of Australians”.
“Having a bubble operating – an effective bubble operating - would be incredibly important; material, in fact, to the survival of some of the businesses in those parts of New Zealand.”
In August and September of 2019, in the final months of the ski season, four out of five overseas visitors arriving at Queenstown Airport were from Australia.
He said while the resort town is a “beautiful place to visit” and Australians love the alpine environment, “they do travel around the region, they don’t just stay in Queenstown”.
“The benefits spill over into the south of Fiordland, of course to the West Coast, too, so I think Aussies coming through that gate is absolutely crucial to not just Queenstown but the whole South Island, really.”
England-Hall said he would “like to think we can” make a travel bubble work, but with greater controls in place to avoid potentially stranding travellers as the two countries move in and out of lockdowns.
Today Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Breakfast travellers risk getting stranded in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak on either side of the Tasman, even with a travel bubble.
Jacinda Ardern believes that people can appreciate the delay to the bubble is so they can work out an arrangement that is “safe”. (Source: Other)
“Many would like to argue that this is not really a health problem, this is more of a risk management issue," England-Hall said.
"As long as we keep track and trace in place, as long as we have effective means of enabling contact tracing and so forth to continue to operate, then actually, we’ve proven time and time again – in New Zealand and in Australia – that when things don’t go right, we have the ability to shut things down pretty quickly and bring things to order."
He added that one of the "more challenging things for the sector" would be "if we go in and out of various forms of lockdown".
“From an industry point of view – bring it on (the travel bubble), but let’s bring it on in a way that’s actually well-managed and well-considered.
“We’ll certainly have our fingers crossed that some form of trans-Tasman travel is going to be allowed, definitely very keen to see that happen.”
Ardern told Breakfast further information is expected this afternoon about the potential trans-Tasman travel bubble.
"What we're going to have to do is make sure that in the same way we run our alert level system, if we see something of concern, that we've got arrangements where we can pause, we can stop travel and make sure we've got plans and for anyone who's on the way."
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