Demand for international travel has bounced back to pre-Covid volumes, according to some of our largest travel agents.
While Christmas and New Year's naturally bring a spike in those wanting to jet off, there are already larger numbers of inquiries for 2023, despite Covid cases growing and looming economic downturn.
1News met two-year-old Isla and her parents, who are about to go on their biggest adventure as a trio, jetting off to meet extended family in the UK.
"That initial hello at the airport is gonna be quite tearful," her mum Charli said.
"And on my side of the family, it's the first grandchild, so yeah, my mum and dad will be looking forward to seeing her," her dad Ben said.
Covid restrictions have made travelling home basically impossible until now.
"We booked as soon as we could, so about 6-8 months ago, that helped, but it's still....it's always an expensive trip to go round the world, so you have to accept it," Ben said.
They’re just a handful of travellers in what is a booming and straining travel agency.
"Since the borders re-opened in March, we have been inundated with customers wanting to travel," Flight Centre’s Heidi Walker said.
"So the challenge for us with that volume of enquires just that we don't have the same workforce we had pre-Covid.
"So what that means for the guys is that they're trying their very best to manage the enquiry that's coming through, and we've had days when there are lines out of the stores, had to have chairs for customers to sit and wait, so yeah it's been busy."
Whether it’s reconnecting families, cruise ship sailings or Disneyland trips, demand is up across the board.
Air New Zealand says it’s operating at close to 80% of pre-Covid capacity in the Pacific Islands.
Samoa is the hotspot over the Christmas/New Year period, with around 40% more passengers than pre-Covid.
Rarotonga’s also proving popular with Kiwis; 19% more travellers are heading there than this time in 2019.
Further afield, LA, Japan and Bali also rank highly, even if flights are around three-quarters of 2019 capacity.
"I think Covid for all New Zealanders and people around the world; it's something we're learning to live with. For people travelling, I think it's really important, and we're seeing people purchase travel insurance that covers covid cover," Walker said.
In a recent Insurance Council survey, around three-quarters of travellers said they've taken out insurance, one in five because of Covid concerns.
Of those who weren’t insured, more than 20% blamed the cost.
"We do have travel insurance, and it feels a lot more expensive than it used to be before Covid," Ben said.
But some things you can't put a price on, like meeting family for the first time.
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