Tourism operators, organisations and politicians are clambering to establish a trans-Tasman travel bubble.

Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) Chief Executive Stephen England-Hall said his organisation is leading work alongside the industry and other agencies to encourage domestic tourism. “Our work is driven by insights and includes marketing and partnership activity and work to support industry restart and be ready to welcome and attract the domestic traveller.

“We recently launched a campaign called ‘Do Something New, New Zealand’ to inspire Kiwis to tick off some of those local holiday destinations and tourism activities on their must-do lists.

“We’re also working closely with the industry to provide them with the support they need in order to pivot their tourism offerings to a domestic market.

Stephen said, even though we can’t welcome visitors to New Zealand at the moment, it’s still incredibly important to keep New Zealand’s brand alive internationally not only for when our borders reopen but also for trade and export purposes and TNZ is undertaking activity to do this.

Stephen said before COVID-19, tourism was the beating heart of New Zealand’s economy. “It was a $40.9 billion sector, with domestic tourism making up 60 percent of this.

“Kiwis also spent $9 billion on overseas travel each year.

“While domestic tourism alone won’t fill the void left by international visitors, capturing a portion of this spend domestically while our borders are closed will be critical to the sector’s recovery.”

Waitaki National MP Jacqui Dean said, while it is fantastic to see and continue to encourage locals to get out and "enjoy their own backyard", we rely heavily on our foreign guests to keep our economy and livelihoods thriving, especially in parts of the country.

“This is why I have been appealing to the Government to open the trans-Tasman bubble as soon as possible, so our communities can begin to recover and rebuild post pandemic.”

Waitaki National MP Jacqui Dean wants to see a trans-Tasman travel with Australia as soon as possible.

“Businesses across Central Otago and Wānaka deserve to hear more detail on the Government’s plans for re-establishing trans-Tasman travel and they deserve to hear it now,” she said. 

“The importance of trans-Tasman travel cannot be overstated – it’s the lifeline this industry needs."

She said Australian visitors alone spent $97 million dollars in the Wānaka region last year, money the area would

love to see coming in again.

“Local businesses, especially those in the ski industry urgently need to know the criteria the Government is using to decide when travel between the two countries can be given the go-ahead and how it would work. I can’t understand why those whose livelihoods are at stake can’t be given a clear picture of what’s going on. We need to back New Zealanders to succeed but in order for them to do that they need to know what they are working towards."

“I want to see some clear logic applied to this. The tourism industry says it can be done, it would be enormously beneficial for the survival of tourism businesses and would save jobs.”

Jacqui said it should be a priority and people should be told how it can be achieved.

“Businesses are doing everything in their power to stay afloat but each day that passes without decent numbers coming through the door poses a massive threat to their survival. 

“Domestic travel certainly helps but with the massive number of visitors to Central Otago and Wānaka coming from overseas, it won’t be enough for some.

“It’s important to remember that we’re not just talking about tourism operators here. Australian visitors spent more money on food and drink last year than on anything else.

“Entire communities are doing it tough and they desperately need some certainty about what is to come and when.”