Hospitality New Zealand says the earlier opening of the border to Australian and visa-waiver countries before winter is great news that will save many businesses from collapse.

The government announced last week that that it was bringing forward the date for opening the border. Vaccinated visitors from Australia will be able to come into New Zealand from 11.59pm on April 12, just ahead of the Easter long weekend and the New Zealand and Australian school holidays.

Tourists from visa-waiver countries like the United States and UK will be able to arrive from 11.59pm on May 1.

“Opening before winter will be a game-changer for so many businesses in the hardest hit tourism regions, such as the southern ski resorts,” says Hospitality NZ CEO Julie White.

“Crucially, they will have time to prepare for the Australian school holidays, though staffing may be an issue for some.”

She is also calling for clarity around when New Zealand will open to tourists from China and India, so businesses can plan ahead.

White said it is also time for an urgent review of vaccine passes. “Why are we still enforcing them when we have no locations of interest? Also, the complexity and backlog for international visitors getting them is problematic because it currently takes 10 days to get one, when they’ve already met the negative-test criteria before arriving.

“The Government needs to ask themselves if passes are relevant in the current environment. We believe it should stand them down on 1 May at very latest to coincide with opening the border to the rest of the world.”

Cabinet has this week discussed the future of mandates, vaccine passes, and the COVID Protection Framework and is expected to announce the changes on Wednesday 23 March.