New Zealand reopens to tourists from more than 60 countries

New Zealand has reopened its borders with people from more than 60 countries now able to enter the country if they are vaccinated and COVID-negative.

The reopening has been welcomed by the New Zealand tourism operators as the country’s economy is heavily reliant on international tourism.

New Zealand closed its borders in March 2020 requiring even returning citizens to complete weeks of quarantine upon entering.

The New Zealand government has credited the country’s low COVID death toll - 713 deaths for a population of five million - to its isolation strategy, as well policies of rapid testing, tracing and lockdown.

When announcing the border reopening earlier this year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the nation was "ready to welcome the world back".

Prime Minister Ardern says while there will be no cap on the number of tourists allowed into New Zealand, tourism operators need to offer a quality experience with low environmental impact.

Ardern told RadioNZ it would take time to get back to pre-pandemic tourist levels, but it was time some tourist attractions were managed differently than they were in the past.

Looking to the future of tourism, she said businesses and governments were in talks about making sure "we are offering a quality experience for tourists".

"And there are parts of the country, particularly our natural environment, where people came to enjoy it and let's be honest, it was heavily congested, and in some parts not necessarily offering what we would have expected as a nation.

"So Milford is an example of where there's been some work together with the local community and tourism operators around how to ensure that the experience there has the lowest impact possible and is a high-quality experience."

Ardern ruled out a cap on tourist numbers, saying it was about managing experiences.

Notwithstanding community spread of the Delta and then Omicron variants, the New Zealand government decided to stagger a move from a COVID eradication strategy to living with the virus.

Image: Milford Sound Courtesy NZ Tourism