Travel Bubbles and Travelling Safe
Moving into Winter with Covid 2021 - Travel Responsible
May 2021 Covid Update
We have started to see the return of travel with the much-anticipated opening of borders within our Trans-Tasman bubble. And so far so good! It seems like you are all travelling responsibly and enjoying reuniting with friends and family on each side of the Tasman. Great stuff!
We are pretty excited about extending a huge welcome to our Australian neighbours. It’s going to be great to see you all!
However, If you’re sitting on the fence, remember, Queenstown is the perfect place for a short break from most Australian ports – there is so much to do and see, you won’t be bored for a minute! And come now, more than ever, while tourism is rebuilding, and the normal winter crowds are not yet descending on us.
On that note, we thought you may like an up to date list of the best sites to investigate the current rules around travelling to NZ.
Entering NZ
By far, the best two sources for accurate up to date information are:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19 and https://covid19.govt.nz/
Now that we have a bubble open with most of Australia, and from May 17th with the Cook Islands, it’s become paramount to check travel information daily if you have booked to visit with us.
Quarantine Free Travel Into NZ
Yes, NZ and Australia are in a quarantine free travel bubble, which will soon extend to the Cook Islands. However, there is paperwork to fill out and information to gather. Probably of utmost importance, this link will take you through to the page about ‘what ifs’. Should there be an ‘outbreak’, what happens to the borders? So please, read up, take notes and make sure you are well informed before you board that flight!
NZ Covid Tracker App – QR Codes and Bluetooth Tracing
NZ has delivered a very 'tech forward' way of tracking Covid cases through the community. But we need you to play your part too, so we can keep these borders open and you can come and visit again!
The great Covid Tracker App has been exceeding expectations as a formidable tool to battle the spread of Covid 19. Through the use of Bluetooth & QR Codes, you’ll create a daily digital diary which will speed up contract tracing exponentially should you have interacted with a person suspected of having Covid-19, or visited a place they have been within a set time frame.
Covid Tracker Booklet
If you’re not a digital native or happy with the digital format, you are strongly encouraged to manually track your movements. The Covid Response team have created a paper version which you can download here
It is recommended you keep track of the 3 Ws:
- Where you went.
- When you went there.
- Who you met.
Social Media
Stay tuned with all the latest developments concerning travel to NZ with these three official links
Facebook - Unite against COVID-19
Twitter - @covid19nz
Instagram - uniteagainstcovid19
Queenstown Lakes District Council - @QLDCInfo
Queenstown Local Information
Firstly, please feel free to drop us a line. We will help in any way that we can. For more localised information on all things Covid-19 related directly to Queenstown, head to Otago Regional Council's Covid Response page.
Also useful is the Queenstown Airport Covid-19 information page and our local transport information site. If you are visiting for an event then visit the COVID-19 Event Guidance site, while the Otago CDEM (Civil Defense) has more precise action plans available
Current Statistics
Worldometer
Tasked with collecting and publishing up to date hard data, Worldometer should give you an unbiased report of where NZ and Australia are at in terms of infections, deaths and recoveries. In saying that, the data is only as good as the source which reports it!
As of May 3rd, there had been:
- 2622 Cases
- 26 Deaths
- 2571 Recovered
- 5 new cases reports on May 2nd
Vaccination Updates
If you are interested in how we are doing with vaccinating the ‘Team of 5 Million’, then head to the official Vaccination section of the Covid-19 web site
As of May 3rd:
- First dose administered 172,564
- Second dose administered 60,024
So, friends and future travellers, we wish you safe journeys on your way down to Queenstown. Embrace this opportunity to travel again, but please, we beg you, do so in a safe & protective manner.
We look forward to seeing you real soon!
