The Cook Islands Finance Minister Mark Brown says a resumption of tourist travel from New Zealand would be a huge boost for his country's economy.
Cook Islands finance minister Mark Brown Photo: Cook Islands News
The Cook Islands are largely dependent on tourism and last week a commerce group predicted dozens of businesses were about to go under.
This week the government released a second economic package to try and keep businesses and workers afloat as they navigated the Covid-19 crisis.
But Mr Brown said restoring New Zealand travel connections was vital, and could be done within weeks.
"Well it is very promising for us if we are looking into June, engaging with Air New Zealand in particular, and then talking with the New Zealand health authorities to see what protocols may be required for travel between our two countries, without the quarantine purposes," he said.
"It would be a huge boost to our economic recovery."
The Cook Islands has not had any cases of coronavirus.