A New Zealand-Cook Islands travel bubble could finally begin within a few weeks.
NZ Government officials will go to the Pacific nation at the weekend to check on arrangements, and once the countries agree on protocols, it could start within a ‘couple of weeks’ said NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
"Keep in mind it’s not just New Zealand saying we’re ready to go," Ardern said.
"While I don’t wish to put any timeframes on a potential travel bubble, it is my aim and hope that this can resume as soon as is safely possible.
"This on-the-ground visit by officials is the next step in that process," the PM added.
It is a boost for the Cook Islands which relies on tourism for a massive 85% of GDP.
"There is no business, there is no income coming in apart from what the government is providing. There is nothing else to fall back to, we don’t have another sector, tourism is our whole GDP," Fletcher Melvin of the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce said earlier this year.
"Without an economy it can only be a matter of time before we can’t pay for essential services, before the health system, the education system and just all of our services in general won’t be able to be maintained."
New Zealand is the main source market, generating about 70% of all international arrivals to the Cook Islands.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
