Prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement about plans to reconnect New Zealand with the rest of the world have been welcomed by the Queenstown Lakes’ mayor.

The first step in the plan is to speed up the vaccination process, then “once enough people are vaccinated, we will be able to start the next step in the plan: a phased introduction of an individual risk-based approach to border settings in 2022,” the PM said yesterday (August 12).

Mayor Jim Boult said he was encouraged by the news.

“While I don’t expect that will open the floodgates for international visitors, it will provide a steady pathway towards recovery of the tourism industry and continue to benefit our wider economy,” he said.

Under the new plan, unveiled at a forum ‘Reconnecting New Zealanders to the World’, a series of ‘pathways’ will be created for travellers, from low-risk to high-risk.

Which pathway a traveller takes will be based on the risk associated with where they are coming from and their vaccination status.

The mayor encouraged residents to heed the PM’s advice and get vaccinated.

Jacinda said vaccination of Kiwis was a crucial step in the plan and eligibility dates will be brought forward (with the 50+ age group will be open from today, Friday August 13, 40+ from August 18, 30+ will be open from August 25; and all eligible ages from September 1.)

Jim said the announcement was the positive news the district needed.

“Our district, and others in New Zealand, are highly reliant on tourism and today’s announcements are certainly a light at the end of a very long tunnel.”

PHOTO: QAC