Australians may be more reluctant to book trips to New Zealand far in advance in light of the latest trans-Tasman travel pause, the chief executive of Queenstown Chamber of Commerce says.
A plane at Queenstown Airport. Photo: Unsplash / Seb
Victoria has just begun a seven-day "circuit-breaker" lockdown because of a rapidly expanding cluster of Covid-19 cases in Melbourne.
This has meant flights between Victoria and New Zealand have been paused for another week, on top of the three-day halt announced earlier this week.
The latest lockdown has also resulted in a trans-Tasman rugby game due to be played in Queenstown on Sunday being moved to Sydney.
The Melbourne-based Rebels had moved to Sydney this week in the hope of flying to New Zealand tomorrow. However, the worsening outbreak in Victoria and the extension of a travel pause sees them stranded in Australia.
Ruth Stokes. Photo: RNZ / Belinda McCammon
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruth Stokes told Morning Report it was not welcome news for the resort town.
About 10,000 tickets had been sold for the match so "it's gutting", she said.
However, public health remained the most important priority and the setback was a reminder that everyone was still vulnerable and uncertain times would remain for the foreseeable future.
"Probably the largest ramification of this decision is making Australians in particular potentially more reticent about booking too far out in advance.
"We've seen that with our winter bookings with strong demand in July and early August but beyond that I think people are playing a wait and see game."
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also due to visit Queenstown this weekend and was due to attend the rugby.
His plans remained up in the air, however, if he did visit it could showcase not just the region's tourism attractions but also its potential as a great place to do business, Stokes said.
"Fingers crossed we are still hopeful and I think him coming would send a very clear message that we have localised controls in place that work well for us.
"That we don't need to launch into full countrywide lockdowns in response to a handful of cases and the systems and the processes that we have in place across both countries are robust and reliable."
"I think him coming would send a very clear message" - Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruth Stokes
Stokes said if Morrison and his officials went ahead with their visit they would pose no greater risk than other recent Australian visitors.
The protocols that were in place could be trusted and had been working well since the trans-Tasman bubble opened last month.