Hospitality New Zealand welcomes the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble in less than two weeks on 19 April.
Chief Executive Julie White says it’s wonderful news for struggling hospitality and accommodation businesses.
“Now it’s a matter of grasping every opportunity the expected influx of Australian visitors and Kiwis returning to visit
family will bring their way.
“Australians typically comprise the biggest chunk of our incoming visitor market, accounting for 39% and spending $2.7
billion in 2019, and though it would be too much to expect it to get back to anywhere near that level for quite some
time, I’m optimistic this will be enough to save some of our hospitality businesses.
“Winter’s coming, and after many businesses suffered from a disappointing summer, telling us in a survey that lack of
revenue was their No1 issue, it’s crucial they grab every opportunity.
“Australians, like Kiwis, are great travellers, and I believe we’ll see them looking to throw off their shackles and
explore New Zealand for the first time.
“And, we’ve got our ski season coming up, so we’re hoping winter will not be as dark as some businesses were fearing.
“The test will be to see if we can keep the bubble open.
“It’s time we learned to live with a bit of risk. We need to balance the health risk with the wider economic risk. “
“We welcome the Government’s three-stage traffic light plan of ‘continue’, ‘pause’, and ‘suspend’ as part of learning to
live with COVID.
“It’s crucial for businesses, families, and the wider economy that we accept some risk and stay open.”