Hunting tourism operator Richard Burdon is happy the borders have reopened, but says it's too late for the lucrative American market.
Burdon and his wife Sarah are third-generation owners of high country station Glen Dene on the shores of Lake Hawea in Central Otago.
Outside of farming, the Burdons also run a successful trophy hunting operation from Glen Dene, where overseas hunters can enjoy premium lodgings and backcountry hut experiences while they hunt.
Earlier this month Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that from April 13, vaccinated tourists from Australia will be able to enter the country without isolating.
And from May 2, vaccinated tourists from other visa-waiver countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, Singapore and others, will be allowed entry.
"We've got a good lineup of New Zealand hunters who are keen to come out and hunt with us and then we've got the Australians," he said.
"With the borders opening on the 12th of April, we've scheduled some Australian hunters and we had around 20 of those coming, so they're pretty excited that they've got first dibs during the roar."
There was a strong hunting heritage in Australia, which was also "pretty positive" but Burdon had to admit that it wasn't as lucrative as the US market.
"We can't quite get as much money out of the Australians as we can but they are contributing and love hunting."
He said his US clientele was unhappy with New Zealand's border controls during the pandemic.
"A lot of the Americans did feel a bit miffed in the fact that a country could lock its people out of the country and they really felt a wee bit insecure about booking trips to New Zealand knowing that they could get locked in or locked out.
"That was one of my toughest things I had to deal with."
"The hunting side of our business really contributes a lot to the sustainability of our agribusiness operation and I have been a bit lucky – we've put some land into some carbon credits and that's helped plug a few gaps."
Burdon had also learned a lot about his domestic market, which he said had been "good for us" but navigating the pandemic had still been challenging.
"We've been well supported by some Kiwi hunters but it's certainly been the toughest two years for me juggling and learning different stuff."