Travel industry says kia orana to Cook Islands: ‘now let’s get the trans-Tasmanian bubble working’

The travel sector has welcomed the free quarantine plans between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, but says it should be followed quickly with a two-way travel bubble through Tasmania.

On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said they had agreed to establish quarantine-free travel between the two countries in the first quarter of 2021.

New Zealand’s borders have been closed to virtually everyone except returning New Zealanders since March, and mandatory administered isolation was introduced on April 9 for anyone returning from abroad.

Brent Thomas, president of the New Zealand Travel Agents Association, said Saturday’s announcement was great news for family and friends in New Zealand and the Cook Islands who had been separated due to border restrictions.

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“That has been very hard for them,” Thomas said.

It was also good news for New Zealanders who wanted to vacation in the Cook Islands; however, capacity constraints would limit the number of New Zealanders who could travel there because the Cook Islands could only accommodate a few thousand tourists at a time, he said. .

There would be a pent-up demand for travel to the Cook Islands from New Zealand, but non-quarantine travel between the two countries was “only part of the puzzle,” he said.

New Zealanders were also desperate to visit loved ones in the rest of the Pacific, as well as Australia, he said.

“The Cook Islands are not the savior of the airlines, Australia really will be.

“We hope the New Zealand government will act quickly on that as well.”

Instead of using the Cook Islands as evidence for non-quarantine travel, the government should start introducing non-quarantine travel agreements with other countries simultaneously, he said.

“Hopefully they have the protocols in place so they can implement this in one country after another.”

Justin Tighe-Umbers, executive director of the New Zealand Board of Airline Representatives, said a model based on country risk was needed.

“Taking a risk-based approach for countries like the Cooks makes a lot of sense,” Tighe-Umbers said.

“Now we are going to launch the trans-Tasman bubble.”

Australia poses a similar low risk to the Cook Islands and now is the time to set up a trans-Tasman bubble, he said.

“The Cook Islands are ideal for testing the safe zone concept, but quickly following it up with an Australian safe zone will be critical to keeping beleaguered airlines and the wider aviation industry in business.

In October, a one-way travel bubble opened between New Zealand and Australia, allowing unquarantine travel from New Zealand to Australia, but not vice versa.

The safe zone with the Cook Islands meant a shift to passenger separation operations at international airports, keeping travelers from safe countries physically separated from countries at risk, he said.

Tighe-Umbers said the passenger separation work was nearing completion, and was hopeful that the first flights from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands would arrive long before March.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said the announcement was a positive step and that the airline was busy preparing to resume round-trip travel without quarantine.

“We hope to consider quarantine-free access for Cook Islands travelers to New Zealand as a first step,” Foran said.

“As we go back to traveling without quarantine, safety is our first priority.”

The airline had been working with the government, relevant agencies and airports on what was required to keep customers and staff safe once the trip opened, he said.

The Cook Islanders would be eager to connect with friends and family in New Zealand and New Zealanders would be eager to go to the Cook Islands, he said.

National Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop said the Cook Islands bubble was taking too long to establish and should be in place by now.

“New Zealanders and the Cook Islands need answers from the government on why it is taking so long,” Bishop said.

In November, Ardern said that once both sides were satisfied with the border agreements, it would take a “couple of weeks” for the bubble to kick in.

“A tepid statement that officials are working for the first quarter of next year is meaningless given statements from the past,” Bishop said.

The government should publish a copy of the agreement to facilitate free quarantine between the Cook Islands and New Zealand so that all parties know what the requirements are, he said.

Getting a bubble established as soon as possible was important to help save jobs and livelihoods in the Cook Islands, he said.

Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for 85 percent of the Cook Islands’ GDP, much of which came from New Zealand, he said.