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Getty Images / Archi Banal
Getty Images / Archi Banal

TravelMay 30, 2022

You thought international travel was stressful before? Just wait

Getty Images / Archi Banal
Getty Images / Archi Banal

Flying was always a grind, but the ever-present risk of Covid has added a whole new level of anxiety to the process. So how can New Zealanders rediscover the world without becoming a nervous wreck?

After two years of staying in, people are finally venturing out again. And now that they’re willing and able to go further than the local supermarket, tourism industries around the world are frothing at the prospect of foreign travellers injecting their hard-earned cash into their local economies (Aotearoa included). Those who are travelling are excited, anxious and perhaps a little terrified as they park their tracksuits, pack the swimmers and board the big kite that spread the old spicy cough in the first place.

International travel has always been a little stressful. I can report from recent experience that it’s still stressful, and now rather bizarre. As if it wasn’t strange enough sitting in a giant tin can 10,000 feet above earth, now we do it with the inherent risk of catching the very thing we’ve been trying to avoid.

My family and I were lucky enough to catch one of the first flights to Aotearoa from Melbourne after the government opened the borders on February 28th. We’d tried several times. First during the ill-fated travel bubble in 2021, then February 2022. Finally, we secured our tickets to see our families on March 1. Our three-year-old son watched as I hauled our suitcases from the depths of the wardrobe. “What’s that thing, Dad??” he asked. I peeled off a thick layer of dust and he chortled heartily as I told him it’s a “suitcase”.

Passengers from New Zealand arriving at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport on October 16, 2020 (Photo: James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

Unfortunately, the novelty quickly wore off.  Soon tantrums were being thrown on the airport floor next to said suitcase, while Air New Zealand informed us that our Australian-born children had been blocked from entering the country of my birth. After a 10 minute call to customs, we were manually cleared and having already provided international vaccine certificates, PCR test results and newly required customs declarations, we fled check-in and the many eyeballs witnessing our wee family crisis.

On boarding the plane I was immediately hit with a wave of claustrophobia, as I realised I was doing the least amount of social distancing for a long, long time. As we found our seats I was bumped from the side, behind and in front simultaneously. Despite my anxiety, I realised I’d almost missed the stress. I was back where I belong – in cattle class. The delays I didn’t miss, however. Sitting on the tarmac for an hour, the frustrated pilot narrated the scene below as one airport tow tug serviced several aeroplanes. The pilot dryly informed us that the company had laid everyone off in 2020 and were training newbies on the tug below. I breathed deeply into my N95 as our wailing baby repeatedly slapped my forehead.

It seems my Covid-related travel anxiety is not unique. Brazilian-born Aucklander Bobby Mukai travelled home to Sao Paulo recently: a 42 hour one-way trip. “There was one stopover in Kuala Lumpur, which was really scary,” he recalls. “We didn’t even leave the plane, we stayed seated, people came in and cleaned it and got out.” Having not flown internationally in so long, Mukai admitted feeling mixed emotions. “We were super excited about going to Brazil and super anxious about being on a plane around so many people,” he says. “Not much social distancing, people standing, no masks… It was a bit strange but we had to deal with it because we wanted to go.”

An eerily quiet Auckland Airport, April 2020. (Photo: Andrew Todd)

And while people like Mukai and I feel that flying internationally is now strange, apparently it’s actually a lot less bizarre than it was. London-based Kiwi journalist Andrew Potter had the misfortune of needing to travel throughout the pandemic. “At its peak I was flying around on giant empty jets with cabin crew dressed head to toe in PPE,” he says. “Each passenger was treated as though she could be exhaling fire, Ebola and Covid-19 simultaneously.”

Air New Zealand mid haul deputy service manager Teio IIa was one of those fully-clad flight attendants. “We were all wearing full protective gear including goggles, masks and gloves,” he says. At peak-Covid, a jumbo jet built for more than 400 could be carrying just 20 passengers. Potter says some crews took distancing very seriously. “A 13-hour Singapore Airlines flight served dinner barely 15 minutes after the aircraft had taken off from Heathrow, to keep interactions between crew and passengers to a minimum.”

And if the pre-travel documentation required today is daunting, spare a thought for the early adopters of pandemic travel, says Potter. “In the early days of the Panny-D these tests cost a fortune – one place in London was charging nearly $1000 for a same-day test. At the same time countries around the world introduced mandatory Passenger Locator Forms which were complicated and time consuming… Failure to complete these forms correctly would mean you weren’t allowed to fly.”

Despite many countries now having dropped pre-departure testing, New Zealand’s requirement remainsfor now. With changes occurring constantly, Ila says preparation is key. “Find out everything that’s required of you to make your travel experience smooth,” he suggests. “Each destination has a different set of Covid rules so prepare early!” Hunt for the information on government and airline websites – and take nothing for granted. We foolishly listened to hearsay and PCR tested our 10-month-old baby, only to later realise this was not actually required. Plan properly and save yourself time, money and baby tears.

Demonstrators take part in a national day of protest against Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic on May 29, 2021 in Brasilia, Brazil. (Photo by Gustavo Minas/Getty Images)

And don’t just prepare your paperwork – prepare yourself mentally. Many countries have moved on from the pandemic and few rules apply, which can be shocking to Kiwis who are only now experiencing their first real taste of Covid. When Mukai arrived in Brazil, a nation that was devastated by Covid in 2020-21, he found that most locals seemed to have put it behind them. “Things were just normal, life was normal. Nobody wore masks,” he says. “They speak about ‘the time of the pandemic’, ‘back in the pandemic’. They speak as if it’s over.”

The US is also moving on, with the mask mandate for public transport recently removed by a federal court judge. The ruling came as a relief for many airline crew, who’ve struggled to police disobedient and sometimes physically aggressive passengers. Potter also welcomed the change. On his recent flight home from New York, he experienced flying with a barefaced crew. “The maskless cabin crew were a delight, as I could understand what they were saying to me for the first time in two years.”

Most international flights still require masks however, so be armed. Flight durations can transcend the life of a lightweight mask and they tend to absorb the aromas of your in-flight meal, so carry spares – along with some RATs (nobody wants to be a super spreader). Before boarding his flight home to Brazil, Mukai packed 20 rapid antigen tests to help protect vulnerable people such as his parents. “Every time we’d go somewhere that was full of people with no masks, like when I went to a concert with 300 people… we would take tests,” he says. “That’s the type of protection I’d have for myself and the people around me.”

Sanitiser is another essential, but even carrying that is not without risk. “I carried hand sanitiser for a while,” Potter laments, “but abandoned this practice after one incident where the change in altitude super-pressured the little bottle, and when I flipped the lid the contents exploded all over me and the guy next to me. Awkward.” Awkward indeed. And while travelling always carries the chance of catching Covid, you’re also at the risk of contracting a very different virus. “We’ve got the travel bug again,” Mukai confesses. “While we were in Brazil we already bought tickets to go to Australia.”

Despite all the fear and anxiety that might tag along for the ride, positive emotions can and will win. Be present and enjoy. Because it’s not just getting from A to B – it is the A to B. “It’s the butterflies in the tummy when you’re packing your suitcases, driving to the airport, having the family together,” Mukai says. “Doing the trip, watching a movie on the plane, getting to see my family after three years… I really loved that feeling again. Hopefully we can keep it up for a little bit.”

Given some tourism industries are struggling to be resuscitated, with rental car shortages in Queensland and the Cook Islands desperate for workers, it’s probably worth packing some patience for your journey. While research is vital, most aspects of international travel are beyond your control, especially as it’s taking off again during a time of global economic and geo-political turmoil. Challenges will arise, there will be tantrums and tears – and the kids might get upset as well. Don’t be Potter’s ill-fated hand sanitiser and burst under pressure, just control what you can and relish the rest.

And don’t cave to anxiety and stay in (again). You deserve this – as do tourism operators. Because as Mukai says, you’re doing good. “The tourism industry needs you, places like Thailand, Bali, Brazil, Australia, they need you.” They do need visitors. Almost as much as New Zealand needs them. Godspeed intrepid traveller, godspeed.

Keep going!
Fijians are looking forward to when tourists can return. (Photo: Getty Images)
Fijians are looking forward to when tourists can return. (Photo: Getty Images)

SocietySeptember 29, 2021

For tourism-starved Pacific Islands, when and how to reopen is a vexed question

Fijians are looking forward to when tourists can return. (Photo: Getty Images)
Fijians are looking forward to when tourists can return. (Photo: Getty Images)

While New Zealand’s favourite Pacific holiday destinations accelerate their reopening plans, experiences elsewhere in the world suggest a cautious approach may be warranted, write Apisalome Movono and Regina Scheyvens.

Pacific Island countries are betting big on vaccination as a strategy for resuming tourism by Christmas and bringing much needed relief for their struggling economies.

For much of the Pacific, tourism has long been the goose that laid the golden egg. But the pandemic has underlined how fragile and temperamental tourism can be. It relies on stable social and economic conditions at both destination and source — the opposite of what has happened since early 2020.

While border openings dependent on vaccination rates might seem hasty, some Pacific leaders see it as the only viable path forward for economies that have nosedived because of Covid.

As the South Pacific’s second pandemic summer approaches, the question is how to balance the risk of further outbreaks with a return to tourism and some kind of economic normality.

Health checks in Fiji, part of the effort to combat Covid-19. (Photo: Facebook / Fiji government)

Race to vaccinate

Against a backdrop of hesitancy and misinformation, vaccination rates in some parts of the Pacific are now breaking world records. Niue and the Cook Islands have almost fully vaccinated all eligible citizens this year.

Sāmoa is also ramping up its vaccination programme in the hope of joining the Cooks and Niue if and when travel resumes within a contained New Zealand-Pacific bubble.

With vaccination also gaining traction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, tourism officials are hopeful a fully vaccinated population will allow them to reopen borders while protecting the health and safety of citizens.

But some tourism-dependent states that opened earlier are now struggling. Guam had to suspend a “vacation and vax” programme – which allowed international visitors to receive a bonus Covid shot in an effort to jump-start tourism – after a delta surge caused deaths and mass hospitalisations.

With some 278,000 residents, French Polynesia has recorded more than 40,000 Covid cases and over 600 deaths. With just 54% of the population having received their first vaccine dose, tourism is now largely quarantine-free for fully vaccinated visitors.

In Fiji, despite the virus having spread to tourism spots such as the Yasawa islands, Beqa and Kadavu, tourism stakeholders are optimistic the country (which has begun to ease local restricitions) will reopen its international borders on November 1.

Health workers prepare for a two-day vaccination event in Tuanaimato, Sāmoa, on September 23, 2021. (Photo: Chikara Yoshida/Getty Images)

Caution versus desperation

The other side of the coin, of course, is how prepared and willing tourists will be to plan a Pacific holiday — and what conditions are placed on their travel (such as New Zealand’s current quarantine requirement for re-entry).

After opening to quarantine-free travel with New Zealand in May this year, then closing the borders again due to a largely Auckland-based Covid outbreak in August, the Cook Islands has chosen to adopt a cautious approach.

In future, it will allow inbound travel only for fully vaccinated people and only when there has been zero community transmission in New Zealand. Given the stubbornly long tail of Auckland’s current delta outbreak, this could mean longer delays.

Similarly, New Zealand has taken a cautious approach with Fiji after declaring it a high-risk country and limiting travel for the foreseeable future. For its part, Fiji is relying on mass vaccination and compliance with Covid guidelines, including stringent enforcement of vaccination for certain workers.

And despite its devastating recent outbreak, Fiji’s government has claimed it is showing regional leadership in managing tourism recovery. The aim is to offer quarantine-free travel to visitors from “green list” countries (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Korea, Singapore and parts of the US), with visitors needing to be fully vaccinated and testing negative for Covid before departure.

But the eagerness to re-open isn’t shared by all, including the country’s opposition leader, Bill Gavoka, who has said: “We have got to have our priorities right — health first over the economy. I don’t believe Fiji is ready.”

Who wants to travel?

Ultimately, given these many uncertainties, the fate of tourism-dependent Pacific nations will hinge less on government proclamations than on the risk calculations of tourists themselves.

Elsewhere in the world, tourism destinations have tried to reassure travellers while also protecting their own populations. Greece, for example, enacted Operation Blue Freedom with the aim of vaccinating all resident adults on specific islands such as Corfu and Crete by the end of July. Subsequent delta surges have disrupted reopening plans, however.

Pacific nations could potentially implement similar policies in selected locations. But it remains to be seen how much vaccine “passports”, currently being touted as a prerequisite for international travel, will be the crucial circuit breaker.

The ability to track and trace visitors is also important, with some countries wanting tight oversight of tourist itineraries, while others hope voluntary use of tracer apps will be enough.

However there are limitations on using such technologies in the Pacific because they rely on people owning and carrying a mobile phone, having sufficient data and GPS being permanently enabled. Network coverage is very poor in some places, and phones often cannot provide sufficiently detailed location information to determine virus exposure.

Whatever the measures, Pacific governments have a major challenge on their hands, especially given their weak public health systems. Having gambled hard on tourism being a mainstay of their economies, they must now live in hope that the tourism goose can get back to laying its golden eggs.The Conversation

Apisalome Movono is senior lecturer in development studies and Regina Scheyvens is professor of development studies at Massey University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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