Our Blog update for today discusses the complete reopening of New Zealand’s borders.
For the first time since March 2020, New Zealand’s borders are fully open since they closed to keep away Covid-19.
Immigration authorities will now initiate to accept visitors holding visas and individuals on student visas.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern dubbed it an “enormous moment”, which was an element of a “cautious process”.
Most visitors will still require to be fully vaccinated. However, no quarantine requirements exist.
The maritime border of New Zealand has also reopened, now permitting cruise ships and foreign recreational yachts to dock.
In February, the country first declared a phased reopening plan. It permitted vaccinated citizens to come back from Australia that month and people who were coming from elsewhere to return in March.
In May, New Zealand began receiving tourists from above 50 countries on a visa-waiver list.
At the China Business Summit in Auckland, Ms Arden stated that they, in parallel with the rest of the world, persist in handling a very active global pandemic while preserving the safety of their people. She added that, however, maintaining the people’s safety includes their incomes and well-being as well.
New Zealand’s strict Covid measures hit many industries. The tourism industry was one out of many that took the hardest hit.
The industry’s contribution to the GDP declined in the year ending March 2021, from 5.5% to 2.9% the year before.
International tourism took a massive impact, plunging 91.5% – or NZ$16.2bn ($10.2bn; £8.4bn) – to NZ$1.5bn, as per official data.
The number of individuals directly employed in tourism also dropped by more than 72,000 during this period.
This is the end of today’s blog update. We hope you found this blog useful. Please don’t forget to support us by subscribing to our newsletter and sharing this blog with your friends and family on Facebook, Whatsapp, and Twitter.
