The Government needs to bring forward isolation-free travel for vaccinated and tested visitors before more tourism businesses close, National’s Tourism spokesperson Todd McClay says.

“Forward bookings for tourism are at record lows. With the Australian school holidays about to begin, and the ski season only months away, the need for a clear announcement of isolation-free travel for visitors has become urgent.

“The current impractical rules mean that Australian visitors won’t be able to travel here until July.

“With more than 95 per cent of Kiwis vaccinated, tourism towns need life to go back to normal. They need paying visitors to spend money in their shops and restaurants. They need paying holiday-makers filling their hotels and motels, not self-isolation guests.

“The Government needs to explain to small tourism businesses faced with the decision of closing their doors why a family from Queensland who are tested and double vaccinated are a higher risk in Rotorua or Queenstown than a Kiwi family who’ve popped across to the Gold Coast for the weekend.

“The Government is harming the tourism sector through inaction. The iconic Rainbow Springs in Rotorua has just announced permanent closure due to no visitors. An announcement by the Government earlier might have allowed them to keep their doors open.

“Pre-COVID, tourism was our largest export earner, employing more than 300,000 people. Now, Westpac are forecasting that our international tourism recovery will be further delayed, saying that ‘NZ’s current self-isolation border requirements will be too prohibitive for potential travellers’.

“Bringing forward isolation-free travel to New Zealand would mean that our visitor economy could finally start to rebuild.

“Without a clear announcement, airlines cannot plan flights and holiday-makers can’t book holidays. The tourism sector needs certainty from the Government so they can survive.

“The Government needs to allow double vaccinated tourists and businesspeople isolation-free travel to New Zealand in time for the Australian school holidays. Every day they continue to sit on their hands, more tourism businesses will close.”

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