Sooner than you think: When you can travel to New Zealand
Months in lockdown have left Aussies with itchy feet but with plans in development to open a trans-Tasman bubble, this is how soon you could be boarding a flight across the ditch.
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Travel to New Zealand could take-off as early as September with two in five Aussies keen to head off overseas in the next year, the peak industry group for tourism has revealed.
New research from the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) found more people felt confident about flying than taking a public bus, taxi or rideshare.
New Zealand topped the list of countries to visit if COVID-19 restrictions were eased with Australia’s neighbour considered no more risky than travelling interstate.
TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said plans on the safe reopening of borders between Australia and New Zealand, without the need for a 14-day quarantine period, were being developed.
“We’re doing a huge amount of work in that space because I co-chair the tourism stream of the Australian New Zealand Leadership Forum, which is the group that both Prime Ministers tasked with helping sort this out,” Ms Osmond said.
“We have to think about things like if you’ve got a COVID-safe app on the Australian side and you’ve got a similar one in New Zealand, how do we make sure they talk to each other?
“I think that we’ll see some trans-Tasman travel by September or October.”
The survey on the travel intentions of more than 1500 Australians, conducted by Newgate Research for the TTF, showed that after New Zealand, Singapore was the next popular destination followed by the UK, Japan, USA and Thailand.
NSW residents were more likely to be planning overseas travel in the next six months compared with the rest of the country.
The biggest factors deterring people from travelling were coronavirus fears and a lack of funds.
For domestic holidays, seven in 10 expect to drive their own car on their next trip with nearly two in five planning to travel within their own state or territory in the next two months.
Ms Osmond said coronavirus could spark “the rebirth of the great Aussie road trip” and create a “real Renaissance” for indigenous tourism and adventure tours.
After months of lockdown, visiting friends and family was the number one reason to travel, especially for those aged over 55 and living in regional areas.
One in five were also interested in holidaying in bushfire-impacted areas.
“I think that’s also a very hopeful thing for those bushfire communities that people haven’t forgotten them,” Ms Osmond said.
Western Sydney University senior tourism lecturer Dr Garth Lean said in the short-term, Australians will be happy to holiday at home.
“Given how quickly lockdowns and closures took place in February/March, people will be wary of becoming stuck somewhere should there be a second wave of the virus,” Dr Lean said.
“When first considering travelling overseas again, I believe people will look for destinations that are not too far from Australia, and with good connections to get back if they need to.
“I think people will also be more cognisant of cancellation policies for their bookings, and inclusions/exclusions on travel insurance policies.”
Ms Osmond said without the spending power of international holiday-makers, the tourism industry would still have to battle through COVID-19.
“The Chinese, for example, who are our number travelling group inbound, they spend well over $8500 for each visitor,” she said.
“There’s no way that Australians spend or are going to spend in the same sort of league as that.”
University of Sydney Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies’ deputy director Professor Rico Merkert said he believed Australians still want to fly.
“I think confidence will return,” he said.
“Once that trans-Tasman bubble is open, I think that will be the first step for international travel and people will get used to it again and the industry is trying what it can to support that process.”
Originally published as Sooner than you think: When you can travel to New Zealand
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