Whanganui welcomes transtasman bubble

Former WHS student, Paige Mailman says the idea of getting to seeing family and friends again is exciting.

The Whanganui woman moved to Perth in late 2019 but has not been able to visit her family since without quarantine travel since the Covid-19 pandemic closed New Zealand's borders in March last year.

But there is hope from Tuesday's Government announcement that a quarantine- free travel bubble will open up between New Zealand and Australia on April 19.

"I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much because it feels like every time we get close to opening the borders a new outbreak hits, but it's hard not to get excited now when it feels so close," Mailman said.

"I know that my family will be over as soon as they can to visit me."

Mailman said she was going to see how the system worked and developed over the next few months and aimed to return to Whanganui for a visit later in the year.

"It's nice knowing you have the option to leave again, and it will be massive for so many Kiwis stuck on this side of the Tasman."

House of Travel Whanganui owner Carla McKinnon said the bubble had been eagerly awaited in her industry.

"Kiwis certainly have an appetite for safe travel, particularly across the Tasman. Many people are eagerly awaiting the chance to reunite with family and friends, many having been separated from loved ones for over a year now."

Whanganui & Partners strategic lead for visitor industries, Paul Chaplow, said the bubble opening was positive for Whanganui and was excited at the prospect of welcoming Australian visitors again.

With international visitors making up about 20 per cent of tourism spend in an average year, Australians make up the majority of visitors.

Jacky Hudson, who has a daughter and two grandchildren in Australia was stoked to hear the bubble has finally been created.

"It's wonderful," she said. "We haven't seen them for two years in July. We were booked to go over in April 2020, but of course it closed down before then."

Unsure when the bubble would open, Jacky's daughter Tara Fulloon have sold their house recently and decided they would go on a campervan tour across Australia.

"They're going up the middle of Australia," Hudson said. "It's quite a long haul for us. It would have been nice to see them before they head off, but it's just going to be too hard."

Before Covid-19, the Hudsons would travel across twice a year to see their family. While technology like Skype has helped keep them in touch, not physically being there for one and another has paid a toll.

"We can't wait. It's been really hard. She is our only child and they're our only grandchildren. They were 1 and 7-years-old when we last saw them."

Hudson said it would have been nice to have a bubble established earlier, but understood there were a lot of systems that needed to be in place.

"At least we have a definite date. We weren't sure when we would see them again."

Chaplow said data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showing Whanganui tourist spend is improving year-on-year.

Whanganui performed exceptionally well compared to other regions in 2020, despite the loss of internationals.

"Taking into account pre-Covid trends and Whanganui's excellent growth despite the border closures and lockdown periods the bubble can only be positive for Whanganui."

Logan Tutty
Whanganui Chronicle 7/4/21