Is The New Zealand Travel Industry Out Of The Woods? – Scoop.co.nz

Undeniably,the indefinite closure of overseas borders has been amisfortune for the NZ travel industry, which is stillstruggling to stay afloat during the gloomy situation.However, some promising signs that seem to hit the groundrunning for the nations travel industry warrant closerattention to assess the near-term growth trajectory of thesector.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit thepause button on travel plans last year, derailing NZstourism settings. While the rebuilding process initiatedimmediately after the early relaxations in shutdown, thetravel industry may have to hold their horses for the timebeing to witness the sectors return to pre-COVIDlevels.

The time and pace of the travel industrysrecovery to the pre-pandemic shape hinges upon the emergingsituation & the policymakers support for thedistressed sector. Although a full-fledged revival lookssome time away, some trends are infusing positivity into thetravel sectors gradual resurgence from the COVID-19storm.

Let us have a quick look at these trends thatcan define travel in 2021:

Resumption ofTrans-Tasman Travel Bubble

Tourismbusinesses across Australia and NZ have been hoping for asooner return of non-quarantine travel between the twonations that can provide some sort of cushion to thebattered travel industry. While Aussies entry into the KiwiLand is not yet open, the ban on quarantine-free flightsfrom NZ to Australia has been recently lifted by theAustralian government.

In late January 2021, Australiapaused quarantine-free travel from NZ after a smallcoronavirus outbreak in Auckland. However, the one-waytravel bubble has now resumed, allowing Kiwis enteringAustralia to travel without having to quarantine forfourteen days. The recent development reflects theconfidence of Australian health authorities that their NZcounterparts have brought the highly contagious strain ofCOVID-19 under control.

With the initialcommencement of the COVID-19 vaccination programme inAustralia and NZ, the long-awaited two-way travel bubble maybecome a reality soon. However, much depends on theeffective containment of virus outbreaks in both thecountries and their sound arrangements to build COVID-safetravel.

Potential Use of IATA TravelPass App

NZ is gearing up to experimentthe International Air Transport Associations (IATA)Travel Pass app on flights to Australia, which canunlock the potential for contactless travel.

Air NewZealand is the first airline to test this digital travelpass app to ensure the safety of travellers cross borders.The Kiwi airline will test this application onAuckland-Sydney flights for 3 weeks in April 2021. Launchedby IATA in late 2020, the digital Travel Pass app isalso being trialled by other airlines across the globe,including Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

Amid theglobal rollout of COVID-19 vaccination, the app promises tosupport passengers securely and easily oversee their traveldocumentation digitally in accordance with currentgovernment requirements. Besides, it allows travellers tosafely store as well as present information related tocoronavirus tests & their vaccinationstatus.

The IATAs Travel Pass app canemerge as a one-stop solution for safe international travelin the post-COVID era. Besides, the application might givethe much-needed confidence to the government to re-openoverseas borders and to the passengers to travelinternationally. The successful trial of the travel passsystem is also anticipated to chart out the course ofrecovery for the pandemic-hit aviationindustry.

Probable Travel Bubble withFiji

Fiji has constantly been pushing fora one-way travel bubble with NZ and Australia, which willallow quarantine-free travel to the island nation. Akin toNZ, Fiji has proven itself as a safe travel destinationduring the COVID-19 pandemic, with zero cases reported forover 300 days.

Fijis travel bubble, known as BulaBubble, has been designed keeping in mind the islandnations sizeable dependence on the tourism industry forstimulating economic growth. Majority of tourists used tocome from Australia and NZ to Fiji in the pre-pandemicphase, producing considerable revenue for thecountry.

The potential execution of the Bula Bubblemay deliver a further push to the tourism industrysrecovery from the virus crisis. However, uncertainty loomsover the timing of initiation of this travel bubble amid adaily increase in coronavirus cases across different partsof the world.

BottomLine

Kiwi Land has finally stepped intothe year of optimism wherein the rollout of vaccinationprogrammes has started to rekindle hopes for the travelsectors revival. While the utopia of the tourism boom ismuch like a pie in the sky in 2021, these promisingdevelopments appear to be breathing life into the hammeredtravel industry.

However, only time will tell how thetravel scenario will pan out amid the coronavirusimmunisation drive that is likely to take a full year forcompletion.

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Is The New Zealand Travel Industry Out Of The Woods? - Scoop.co.nz