Coronavirus: Tourism minister rejects Chinese ambassador's criticism of border closures

Tuesday, 18 February 2020

Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis says China may be feeling 'hurt', but border closures are necessary to protect the health of New Zealanders.

China's Ambassador to New Zealand Wu Xi speaks of the good work China is doing around the coronavirus outbreak.

His comment comes after the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, Wu Xi, objected to an extension of the border closure instituted on February 3 to prevent spread of the coronavirus, Covid-19, saying it went against World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations on maintaining travel links.

It is the second time Wu has spoken out against the travel restrictions which have halted all tourists coming from or through mainland China, but Davis stands behind the decision which he said was not made lightly.

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Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis says his strong relationship with China's Minister of Culture and Tourism Luo Shugang will help re-establish visitation from China when border restrictions are lifted. The pair are seen here officiating at the closing ceremony for the China New Zealand year of tourism in November.

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'We really take our relationship with China seriously, they may be feeling hurt, but our first priority is the health of New Zealand citizens and trying to prevent Covid-19 from landing on our shores.'

Davis said he enjoyed a close relationship with his ministerial counterpart in China and that would will help restore travel between the two countries when the border reopened.

The number of Covid-19 cases worldwide is approaching 70,000, with 1670 deaths, most of them in mainland China.

Canterbury University professor Anne-Marie Brady, who specialises in Chinese politics, has defended the New Zealand Government's position.

The tourism industry is bracing for significant losses after losing a major chunk of its Chinese market to coronavirus travel restrictions

In a tweet on Tuesday she pointed out more than 62 countries had ignored the WHO's recommendations. 'NZ is doing the right thing,' Brady posted.

Davis said tourism operators heavily reliant on the Chinese market were having a tough time, but he did not believe wage subsidies were necessary to avoid lay offs.

He is confident an extra $11m in funding for tourism promotions will help make up for the lack of Chinese visitors who last February spent about $260m here.

Tourism New Zealand will pump its $10m share of the money into attracting more visitors from the US, Japan and Australia.

Domestic tourism - which accounts for 60 per cent of all tourism spending - will receive $1m to get Kiwis to take a break in Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch and Queenstown, regions hardest hit by the dearth of Chinese.

'We're encouraging New Zealanders to have a holiday in New Zealand, it's sort of low hanging fruit.

'I don't think we have had a really serious domestic campaign for decades,' said Davis.

Exactly how that money will be split between the four regional tourism organisations has yet to be decided by TNZ and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Tourism New Zealand has estimated the travel ban could cost tourism $500m over six months. Already hundreds of contract tour bus drivers and guides are without work.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) had raised the possibility of short term wage subsidies for all sectors badly hit by virus-related downturns to help prevent permanent staff from being laid off.

TIA had also lobbied for a boost in TNZ funding and chief executive Chris Roberts said they welcomed the Government announcement.

'From a national viewpoint, it is essential that the domestic marketing stimulates new visitor activity, by encouraging kiwis to take an extra break.'

Audio provided courtesy of RNZ.