New Zealand resumed welcoming visitors from outside in May and on Monday removed its pre-trip COVID-19 testing requirements for inbound tourists after two years of closed borders and arguably of the harshest travel prohibitions in the world.
Kiwis are eager to welcome back visitors from abroad, as I discovered during my own recent trip to the nation.
However, before preparing and embarking on their journeys, those travellers might need to be ready for a few surprises.
The tourism industry in New Zealand is attempting to recover from closures, layoffs, and capacity issues brought on by the epidemic.
Finally, Airlift is making a comeback to its airports, and hotels are hiring more personnel and making more rooms available for reservations.
However, things go slowly, so you might not get to cross everything off your bucket list.
The possibility of contracting COVID-19 while you are there is also a possibility.
None of this suggests skipping New Zealand from your holiday itinerary, but you might want to wait until more flights and accommodations become available.
I had a conversation with Rene de Monchy, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, when I was in Auckland about the difficulties facing the country's tourism industry now that international travel has resumed as well as what visitors might anticipate in the upcoming months.
He claimed that while the future was promising, the nation's tourism sector will undoubtedly need to recover in 2022.
It will take time to rebuild the tourism sector.
According to Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA), an independent organization that studies the nation's tourism sector using government statistics, international tourism spending in New Zealand fell an astounding 91.5 percent between 2019 and 2021, from almost $10.3 billion to barely $950 million.
The fact that New Zealand's remaining tourism enterprises had to shrink and shift their focus to the domestic market in response to these trends proved to be a blessing in disguise, according to de Monchy.
Domestic travel made about 60% of all tourism spending in the nation even before the pandemic.
The speed with which airlines restore their long-haul routes to the destination will now determine the return of international travellers.
Realistically, for long-haul markets like North America, we're really going to see that ramp up as we move into our summer, de Monchy said. This will give the airlines some time to get ready for our peak season.
He mentioned that Air New Zealand is already running flights from Auckland to its two main U.S. hubs, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and that it would start operating flights to Houston and Chicago again in July and October, respectively.
The airline has also announced that it will launch service on its newest and longest route, which runs from Auckland to New York City, in September.
Furthermore, Air Canada will resume service from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Auckland in November, Hawaiian Airlines will resume service from Honolulu, Hawaii, and United will resume service from San Francisco to Auckland in October.
Although there hasn't been any official announcement yet, American Airlines is allegedly thinking about reopening its Los Angeles–Auckland route.
Despite this, there won't be many cheap flights from the United States to New Zealand for the ensuing six months.
Economy round-trip tickets on Air New Zealand start at $1,324 from San Francisco to Auckland and at roughly $1,370 from Los Angeles to Auckland.
In the same time frame, the starting price for a round-trip economy flight from the United States to New Zealand on other airlines, such as Fiji Airways and Hawaiian Airlines, is roughly $900.
Staffing is still a problem.
Over 33% less people were employed in New Zealand in fields related to tourism and hospitality between 2019 and 2021.
After such a precipitous plunge, de Monchy predicted that it would take some time for enterprises to staff back up.
"People are now actively attempting to rehire former employees or hire new employees, and that is difficult....
Again, we have a significant amount of time until our summer, which, in my opinion, will assist some of these venues and operators in scaling back up, said de Monchy.
Anecdotally, I can say that not all of the hotels I stayed at during my 10-day tour of the nation were yet fully operational, which created a few problems.
The availability was constrained and in some cases it was nearly hard to schedule a stay of more than one night since, first, some hotels were just leaving empty blocks of lodging that they could not service.
The DoubleTree Wellington saw extreme daily price swings for the same category of room, ranging from less than $100 to more than $230.
With all of that in mind, visitors planning a trip to New Zealand in the coming months would be prudent to make their plans as early as possible in order to get the flights and accommodations of their choice.
How relaxed should you feel when making plans?
Given that visiting New Zealand can be expensive and time-consuming, some people may reasonably be hesitant to arrange a trip just yet.
Thanks to lowered entrance criteria, travelling to the country has already become lot simpler.
Furthermore, it appears doubtful that borders will once again close given that over 95% of the population has received all recommended vaccinations, albeit local health policies may change.
"We want it to be as simple as possible to get to New Zealand," de Monchy stated on behalf of the tourism board.
The better, the fewer obstacles there are.
Having said that, it will be beneficial to exercise some caution going forward.
Prior to the epidemic, tour operators and travel agencies handled almost three-quarters of all long-distance reservations to the nation.
As long as tourists want to use middlemen who can guide them through entry criteria, cancellation and modification regulations, and information on which tourist attractions are open and operational, that situation is likely to persist.
Another option is getting a reliable travel insurance plan.
The good news is that a lot of accommodations have loosened their cancellation policies, letting guests change or cancel their plans even for the cheapest room rates up until the day before check-in.
If travel plans are specifically cancelled owing to COVID-19, several hotels guarantee full reimbursements.
The Lindis, a luxurious resort with hotel rates starting at more than $1,300 per night about two hours west of Queenstown, presently has a more lenient cancellation policy that offers a full refund or a 12-month credit if you are unable to travel to or within New Zealand due to COVID-19.
With these guarantees in place, now may be the ideal moment to plan that long-awaited vacation, especially while the U.S. dollar is strong and New Zealand is still a reasonably priced travel option.
It can call for you to be more adaptable than normal with regard to your time on the ground, your intended destinations, and your planned activities.
According to de Monchy, "New Zealanders are looking forward to having visitors back."
"They recognise the importance of tourism.
What they missed is visible to them.
Therefore, there is a great desire for tourists to return to the nation.
That much is undeniably true, as seen by the numerous warm grins and enthusiastic "Kia ora!" greetings I received almost wherever I went on my recent trip.
FACEBOOK