New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on 12 August that New Zealand will begin a gradual reopening to travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022.
Here’s everything we know we about when Brits may be able to travel to New Zealand for tourism, and what the restrictions will be like.
What are the current restrictions on travellers from the UK?
The New Zealand border is currently closed to almost all arrivals. Anyone entering New Zealand from the UK must quarantine in an approved facility for a minimum of 14 days, submitting to Covid tests within 24 hours of arrival, on days three and 12.
When will New Zealand reopen its borders?
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in a speech on 12 August that the country is now taking steps to open its borders to travellers from low risk countries from early 2022.
Relaxing border restrictions will depend on the continuing success of New Zealand’s vaccine rollout. All adults will be given the opportunity to book their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by December, with border restrictions only eased when the vaccination programme has achieved “good coverage”. This will be no earlier than the start of 2022.
What will the travel restrictions be?
The country is moving to a “pathways” system of travel, with arriving travellers’ pathways into New Zealand determined by a combination of their vaccination status and where they have been in the previous 14 days.
Countries will be grouped according to risk, using several factors: number of cases, prevalence of variants of concern, vaccination rates, and the New Zealand government’s “confidence in the country’s strategies for managing outbreaks”.
A “traveller health declaration system” is currently being developed that will enable New Zealand border agencies to confirm arrivals’ vaccination status. This will take the form of a digital tool that requires travellers to upload information before they arrive in New Zealand, such as their vaccination information.
There will be a manual system in place while the digital platform is being developed.
Rapid border testing is also being developed.
Will I need to quarantine on arrival in New Zealand?
The rules are still being worked out but it’s likely to be the case that arrivals entering New Zealand through the new pathway system will be able to avoid 14 days’ managed quarantine if they have come from a low-risk country. They will instead complete “modified isolation”, which Ms Ardern explained as follows: “If you have been to a country where there is Covid, but pretty decent rates of vaccination, and you yourself are vaccinated, rather than going into [managed quarantine] we will be looking into either isolation at home, and/or shortened isolation periods.”
It's unclear which category the UK will fall into by the time the new restrictions are introduced next year.
