Tourism Security: Protecting visitors, protecting ‘Brand New Zealand’ New Zealand’s border is opening and the tourism sector is awakening from a two-year hiatus. With the opportunities comes with the challenge of ensuring that tourist security is up to the mark, writes Nicholas Dynon.
Nicholas Dynon is chief editor of Line of Defence, and a widely published commentator on New Zealand’s defence, national security and private security sectors.
Line of Defence
Decisions by Cabinet to allow all fully vaccinated travellers from Australia from 12 April, and visawaiver countries from 1 May without needing to self-isolate – and the scrapping of pre-departure tests from 20 June – have paved the way for the return of international tourism. Although great news for the New Zealand economy and for the many businesses dependent on that sector, government ministers conceded that we shouldn’t be bracing ourselves for a sudden influx of tourists. A recent study by money.co.uk listed New Zealand’s post-Covid tourism recovery as the world’s 12th slowest. Transport Minister Michael Wood announced in March that the Government had agreed to an additional $250 million to support flights from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 under the Maintaining International Air Connectivity (MIAC) scheme. “Even now as we look forward to welcoming overseas visitors back to our shores, the number of passenger flights into New Zealand is only a quarter of pre-COVID levels, and many of those planes still carry few passengers,” he said. It’s a point echoed by Tourism Minister Stuart Nash in his 25 March speech to the Otago University Tourism Policy School. With some countries’ borders
remaining closed and travel costs elevated, we “know that the impact of COVID-19 will continue to be felt, and international visitors from some big markets are not likely to return in large numbers straight away,” he stated. “It’s now more important than ever that we focus on tourism’s ability to inspire and change lives as a key part of our world-leading brand,” he continued. “To attract these visitors, we will need to make a concerted effort to live our brand.” Post-COVID tourism is shaping up to be more competitive than prior to the pandemic, with travellers thinking harder than ever about where to spend their money. According to Mr Nash, if we don’t ‘live the brand’, “no amount of crazy scenery and breath-taking experiences will lift us above many other destinations around the world.” Traditionally safe destination While the New Zealand brand is all about beautiful scenery and all things ‘pure’, it’s also informed by Aotearoa’s ranking as one of the safest countries on the planet. According to the recently published 2021 Global Peace Index (GPI), New Zealand is the second safest country in the world, and the safest in the Asia-Pacific region. 45
