WELLINGTON: The New Zealand government is bringing forward the date for opening the border to tourists in time for the Australian school holidays, in a move that will help accelerate the economic recovery from COVID-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday.
From 11:59 p.m. local time on April 12, Australians will be able to travel to New Zealand isolation-free, and then two and a half weeks later from 11:59 p.m. local time May 1, vaccinated travellers from visa-waiver countries such as Britain, the United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea and Singapore, and those with valid visitor visas, will be able to arrive, Ardern told a press conference.
“Closing our border was one of the first actions we took to stop COVID-19 two years ago. It did the job we needed. But now that we’re highly vaccinated and predicted to be off our Omicron peak, it’s now safe to open up,” she said.
Reopening in time for the upcoming Australian school holidays will help spur New Zealand’s economic recovery in the short term and is good news for the winter ski season, said the prime minister.
