Trip.com Group has joined hands with Tourism New Zealand to promote the destination across the Asia Pacific region. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who is currently on a visit to China. As part of the collaboration, both parties will launch a series of joint marketing campaigns to attract tourists from across Asia Pacific. The markets include the China mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia. The partnership marks the first Asia Pacific pan-regional collaboration for both sides. Edison Chen, VP of Destination Marketing at Trip.com said, "With the reopening of China's border, we have seen a marked increase in outbound travel-related bookings and searches in the recent months.” “We look forward to collaborating with Tourism New Zealand to leverage our resources and deep data insights." Data from the Ctrip and Trip.com platforms show a keen interest in travel in Asia Pacific, including New Zealand. Flights searches to New Zealand have seen an increase of nearly 560% year-on-year, and the volume of bookings was up over 570%. The Chinese mainland was the top source of arrivals to New Zealand in the first half of this year, followed by Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan. Tourism NZ CEO René de Monchy said, "Through the partnership, we aim to provide  more convenient booking methods and personalised itinerary planning."

New Zealand will temporarily relax immigration rules in order to hire thousands of extra tourism industry workers. Immigration Minister Michael Wood said NZ will double numbers under the working holiday visa scheme. It hopes to attract at least 12,000 extra workers over the next year. "These measures are about providing immediate relief to those businesses hardest hit by the global worker shortage," Wood said. Wood said worker shortages are especially felt in the hospitality and tourism sectors that have traditionally relied on international workers.

New Zealand has welcomed its first big cruise ship call in nearly two and a half years. The P&O Pacific Explorer docked at Queens Wharf in Auckland and, an occasion hailed by New Zealand Cruise Association CEO Kevin O'Sullivan. "It's going to be a very exciting day and it will be very exciting for the guests coming ashore as well," O'Sullivan said "We're last really to get cruise ships back so all the hard work's been done on the cruise ships a long time ago and we're getting the benefit of it." P&O spokesperson David Jones said calls to New Zealand would be ‘ramping up over the coming months.’ Twenty port calls are before Christmas, Jones said. Pacific Explorer had 1,200 guests aboard. It arrived from Sydney and is now on its way to Fiji. "Health protocols are probably tighter than any land based environment," Jones added. Passengers and crew must be fully vaccinated, and don masks when embarking and leaving the ship.  

New Zealand has officially fully reopened its borders for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, marking the return of big ship cruising. Tourists from all countries and international students are now allowed to enter. Cruise ships and foreign-flagged yachts are also welcome at ports. For most visitors, proof of vaccination is still required but there are no quarantine rules. Air travellers are required to complete two rapid tests. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called it an ‘enormous moment’ for the tourism industry. "We continue to manage a very live global pandemic, but keeping people safe extends to incomes and wellbeing too." “Our key message is that we are open for business."

Travellers to New Zealand will no longer require a Cpvid-19 pre-departure test from 20 June “We’ve taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to. Our strategy has worked and as a result it’s safe to lift pre-departure test requirements sooner than planned,” Covid-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said. “We had intended to remove the requirement for travellers to have a pre-departure test by 31 July. But with cases continuing to decline there is evidence this measure can now be lifted.” “We don’t anticipate a significant increase in border cases once the requirement is lifted.” A set of border surveillance measures remain in place for detecting possible new variants. Travellers will still be required to self-test on Day 0/1 and again on Day 5/6. If the result of either test is positive, they must then get a PCR test. Passengers transiting through New Zealand will no longer need to be vaccinated, nor be required to complete a New Zealand Traveller Declaration. “These changes represent important progress in our ongoing management of Covid-19,” Verrall said.

New Zealand reopened borders for visa-waiver travellers. It marks NZ's latest progress towards a full border reopening Travellers from visa-waiver countries may now enter if fully vaccinated and supply a negative pre-departure Covid test. Visa-waiver countries include Japan, the US, UK, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia and Canada. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash called it a ‘milestone for visitors.’ NZ earlier reopened borders for vaccinated Australian nationals and permanent residents.  

New Zealand’s international borders are fully reopening from 1 May to vaccinated travellers from visa waiver countries. Fully vaccinated travellers from these countries can travel to New Zealand without needing to isolate on arrival as long as they present a negative pre-departure test. Negative Rapid Antigen Tests [RAT] will be required on arrival and again on day 5/6. Visa waiver countries include the UK, as well as the US, Japan, Germany, Korea and Singapore. It brought forward the planned date for opening the border to tourists primarily in time for the Australian school holidays, aimed at accelerating the economic recovery. Firstly, on 12 April, Australians will be able to travel to New Zealand isolation-free, and then two and a half weeks later, vaccinated travellers from visa-waiver countries will be admitted. “Reopening in time for the upcoming Australian school holidays will help spur our economic recovery in the short term, ”said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. “Trans-Tasman travellers have historically made up 40% of our international arrivals, with around 1.5 million Australians visiting each year.” “The announcement will be a welcome boost for our tourism operators.”

New Zealand’s hard border could swing open earlier than expected. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said a new revised reopening schedule will be revealed this week and ‘brought forward because we believe we can safely do so.’ It has maintained a hard border for almost two years. It has already opened to returning Kiwis and workers in critical industries. It expects to open first to Australian travellers and then for worldwide tourists.  

Travellers will no longer need to isolate on arrival in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the requirement ends on Wednesday and currently applies only to returning Kiwis, as foreign tourists are still banned. Travellers are still required to test negative before and after arriving. “I know this will be welcome news to people eager to travel home to see loved ones as soon as possible,” Ardern said. It was mostly welcomed by the tourism industry, but the uncertainty over opening borders for foreign travellers is hampering recovery plans.