New Zealand welcomes back international tourists after two years

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said interest in travel to New Zealand remains high. “We are currently seeing around 33,000 arrivals per week and we know today’s changes will further boost arrivals," he said.

Nash said international flight searches to New Zealand were running 19% higher than in pre-COVID times and several major airlines are restarting and adding routes to meet demand, including the first ever direct flight between New Zealand and New York City.

“Later this year major international airlines like Emirates, Air Canada, Malaysian Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, LATAM Airlines and Air Tahiti Nui are restarting routes," he said. "Air NZ is also adding long haul routes from San Francisco, Honolulu, Houston, New York and Chicago."

Vaccinated arrivals no longer have to self-isolate on their arrival, but anyone over the age of two will continue to test for COVID-19.

Travelers need to take a pre-departure test. Upon landing in New Zealand, they'll be given three rapid antigen tests at the airport to take home. One for use on day one of their arrival, one for use on day five or six, with one extra, the third test, for backup.

Arrivals who return a positive result will be required to take a PCR test at a community testing station so that New Zealand can keep tabs on any emerging variants and isolate cases as needed.