This was published 2 years ago
New Zealand border opening: Our neighbour has never felt further away
New Zealand may be welcoming tourists from Australia by July, but with up to 10 days' home quarantine required, how many will go?
Our Kiwi cousins have never felt further away. Last week's announcement on borders by the New Zealand government was supposed to be good news (at least that's how it was billed): a five-step plan to reopen the country to the world after a few years of COVID-19-related restrictions.
The reopening begins at the end of this month with the gradual disbandment of New Zealand's managed hotel quarantine system, to be replaced by home quarantine for arrivals. To begin with, that will just be for Kiwi citizens, residents and others given special exemption, though by July, Australian tourists and others from countries who would normally not need to apply for a visa to visit New Zealand will also be able to access this system and come and go without further restrictions.
By October, the Kiwi government says, all visa processing will reopen, and tourists from any country will be allowed to apply and visit as normal.
Unless you have family in New Zealand, and that's your main reason for visiting, you're unlikely to visit under the conditions that have been outlined.Credit: Nick Moir
Great. Except, of course, it's not "as normal". Because as things stand right now, even by October – in eight months' time – anyone entering New Zealand will still have to complete a period of home quarantine, likely to be the same amount of time those in the country identified as close contacts of a COVID-19 case have to self-isolate. The thinking being that anyone travelling is likely to have come into contact with a COVID-19 case, so they should isolate.
Home quarantine? In eight months' time? This announcement might be good news for Kiwi citizens who have been effectively locked out of their own country by the finite places in the hotel quarantine system, but for those working in the tourism industry over there – and for those of us who would like a holiday in New Zealand – it's far from positive news.
Few people have the time and the money – and the will – to spend up to 10 days in isolation at the beginning of their holiday. Unless you have family in New Zealand, and that's your main reason for visiting, you're just not going to do it. You're not going to choose a destination for your holidays that requires you to isolate on entry. It won't happen.
It makes you wonder: is New Zealand giving up on international tourism? Its government must realise that very few people are going to come over for a holiday while home quarantine requirements are in place. Its tourism operators must realise that, too. With no confirmed plan for properly reopening the country's borders, even by October, is New Zealand just saying it doesn't need international tourism as an industry, as a practice, anymore?
In some ways, yes, which is wild for a country that has led the world in terms of its tourism product for so long now. 100% New Zealand. You know it. You've experienced it. We all love it. But the Kiwis, with no stated plan for quarantine-free entry, appear to be losing interest in it.
That isn't the end of the story though. Although Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern hasn't specifically said so, there are big changes on the way for New Zealand as border restrictions are loosened at the end of this month, in terms of COVID-19 case numbers as Omicron inevitably spreads, and in terms of public perception and appetite for risk when that happens.
As case numbers climb in New Zealand, the need for, and efficiency of, home quarantine for visitors will decrease dramatically. I don't anticipate this lasting until October. I would be surprised if it even makes it to July.
And that's a good thing, ultimately, because we need international travel. The world needs it. Every country needs it. We might look at overtourism issues and consider how to do things better in the future, look at being more sustainable and more thoughtful in our future movements, but to give up on international tourism entirely would be a terrible thing.
Look at how the world has changed and how we have changed since borders closed and movement was restricted in 2020. We've become more parochial, more territorial, more driven by fear and misunderstanding as we've been locked away in our homes. Even within Australia, between states with very few real cultural differences, we've bickered and whinged. We don't trust each other. We see ourselves as different.
Travel, however, brings new perspectives, new understanding. That's true when you leave your country, but it's also true when others enter. We have so much to learn from other nationalities and other cultures. There's an invaluable exchange every time someone crosses a border and enters a place they don't understand.
New Zealand isn't the only country shutting itself off from the world at the moment. China is completely sealed, with no plan to change. Japan remains off-limits to foreign tourists and will do for some time. The likes of Vietnam, South Korea and Morocco are difficult to access right now, though that will soon change. Even in Australia, we have only just announced a plan to properly reopen borders.
But things will change across the ditch. We will return to New Zealand for a holiday, eventually. Not while there are home quarantine rules in place, but those won't last. We'll be able to get our hit of 100% New Zealand sometime this year. And I reckon that will be good for everyone.
What did you make of New Zealand's announcement last week? Would you holiday in a country with quarantine requirements? Will you consider a holiday in NZ when those are dropped? Or do you plan to go elsewhere?
Email: b.groundwater@traveller.com.au
Instagram: instagram.com/bengroundwater
Twitter: twitter.com/bengroundwater
See also: Explainer: Who will be able to actually enter New Zealand?
See also: Bali reopens to tourists, but entry requirements will make holidays difficult
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