Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the nation was “open for business” after the final stage of the gradual reopening, which began in April, was completed on Sunday night. Visitors from around the world will once again be allowed to enter New Zealand, including sea arrivals, those on student visas and those from visa-exempt countries such as China and India. Ardern said the reopening was “a huge moment” in a speech at the China Business Summit on Monday morning. “It has been a gradual and careful process on our part since February as we, along with the rest of the world, continue to manage a very live global pandemic while keeping our people safe,” he said. “New Zealanders are hosts. Blessings [hospitality] it runs through our veins and we open our arms to tourists and students, including China, which prior to 2020 was New Zealand’s largest source of international students and second largest source of tourists. “For those who want to make their journey here, haere mai, we welcome you.” Cruise ships and foreign pleasure yachts will also be allowed to dock at the country’s ports. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said the return of cruise ships – whose visitors spent NZ$365 million ashore a year before the pandemic – would be a big boost to local economies. “Most cruise visits occur during the warmer months of October to April … It will be a boost for the industry, which can plan with confidence for the rest of the year and beyond,” Nash said in a statement. Tourism operators, businesses and education providers welcomed the news, despite Immigration New Zealand’s predictions that visitors are more likely to flow – rather than flood – in the coming months. “I think it’s safe to say that we don’t expect the same level of demand that we saw before Covid. This is probably for a number of reasons,” Immigration New Zealand’s Simon Sanders told national broadcaster RNZ. “We know that China, which is a larger visitor visa-required country, is still subject to a number of travel restrictions, so we don’t expect much demand from there, at least initially.” He encouraged students who have study offers to apply for their visas immediately and urged those who want to study in 2023 to hold off for a few months “so we can ensure that those who need to arrive this year will be able to do so”. The full reopening comes as New Zealand ranks in the top seven countries in the world for average daily confirmed Covid cases per 100,000 people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. A University of Auckland study released last week warned that opening the borders could lead to a quadrupling of Covid-19 cases originating from foreign countries – and that could further strain an already creaking health system.
