"We are expecting a slow, steady start, but this is our journey of recovery phase, so we're still excited about it," she told First Up.
Although New Zealanders didn't account for all tourism revenue, visits from Aotearoa had always been a financial mainstay, she said.
"New Zealand is still the biggest market for sure. It made up about 62 per cent of our numbers, so definitely a big chunk and of course Kiwis have pretty limited places that they can travel to at the moment, so that will make a difference as well.
"We're expecting between 50 and 55 per cent occupancy for most places, only based on the current schedule for this season, which is one flight per day. But Air New Zealand has assured us if demand grows they'll increase that flight schedule. So anything is possible at this stage."
Threats to the travel bubble posed by Covid-19 and the possibility of new community transmission cases would always be a worry to operators, but they were staying positive and trusting existing health and travel protocols put in place.
Vaccination programmes were giving the country confidence, with the nation's health authorities able to administer 600 jabs per day, meaning the whole of Rarotonga will soon be covered in under a week, she said.
"There is always that element of worry, but I think that the bigger worry is if we don't have a bubble and it doesn't open, because the economic consequences of that are pretty major.
"We've got vaccination starting this coming week as well, so everything is kind of happening at once. That's a vaccination of the whole of the population and that's certainly going to give that extra layer of protection, which I think offers a bit more assurance with an open border."
General manager at Tamanu Beach Resort on the island of Aitutaki, Nick Henry, echoed Scott's comments. He told Morning Report the operators were ready for the influx of travellers, but initially they weren't expecting huge numbers.
"We're been ready and waiting for some months now. Fortunately at Tamanu Beach we've had our restaurant opened seven days a week since October, but it's been a struggle relying solely on local travel.
"Fortunately we get a from arriving in from Rarotonga, so it's kept us afloat and with the government wage subsidy we've managed to keep our employees employed through this 15-month period."
Less fortunate were some surrounding businesses, which had closed and had lost staff who travelled instead to New Zealand for seasonal opportunities. Expectations of how fast the bubble would bring work opportunities back to the islands were realistic, Henry said, but added the figures were promising.
"For Aitutaki, I know we've got a slow movement for May. For example, in our hotel we've got just five bookings for the rest of this month to date and around 30 per cent for June and we're getting up to almost 60 per cent for July, which is very exciting."
He said that July figure was double what he had anticipated and expected Air New Zealand to meet any increased demand.
