Samantha Motion: As New Zealand reopens, tourism should not forget Kiwi travellers

The maritime border will reopen in time for the spring/summer cruise ship season. Photo / NZME

OPINION

The so-called Hermit Kingdom is throwing off its shell.

The Government has announced the borders will fully open to all countries and visa categories on July 31, two months sooner than the October date previously set.

The maritime border will open on the same date, as will the international student sector.

Any New Zealand residents who have not used these past two years to see the best New Zealand has to offer without the madding crowds had better book a break quickly.

Before we know it, the cruise ships will be back pulling into port at Mount Maunganui, spilling bespectacled and besandled visitors onto Salisbury Wharf.

Travellers will once again be ferried between Rotorua's wonders by the busloads, and the timing has to be a boon for ski fields (though Ruapehu's rumblings may still provide a challenge for the season).

Tourism and hospitality businesses, starved for so long of their biggest-spending customers, can look optimistically to the future.

But it is hard to imagine a rapid return to normal. Much has changed, including attitudes to international travel, and there is still a lot in the world to be uncertain about.

Inflation is not only a domestic disease and is sapping discretionary spending from wallets around the globe. Never mind the visa processing glut.

New Zealand's reputation for using lockdowns and border closures to manage the spread of Covid-19 may also prove a barrier to travellers wary of getting stuck away from home.

But we can hope that there is enough pent-up demand out there that, combined with good marketing of New Zealand, will result in travel agents soon being swamped with tourists wanting in.

Some tourism businesses have not survived the wait for this point. Rotorua's Rainbow Springs Nature Park, beloved by locals and tourists for 90 years, is perhaps the biggest casualty, but other smaller tourism businesses have also gone under.

Of those that have managed to keep the lights on, many slashed staff numbers and may now face a challenge to recruit in a competitive job market with low unemployment.

Some in the tourism industry did the pandemic pivot and adapted their offerings to better suit domestic travellers.

Some hotels, rental vehicle companies and attractions started welcoming dogs, appealing to Kiwis (like me) who were keen to take Fido along for the fun.

Others created experiences to suit an after-work crowd, tweaked tour content for Kiwis or put on specials for locals.

I found these sorts of accommodations transformed the experience of seeing my own backyard.

No one could begrudge tourism for now turning its attention to attracting international visitors again after such a long dry spell.

But I hope the industry can do so without forgetting the Kiwi holidaymakers who supported it through the toughest of times.