Scott Morrison arrived from Canberra on Sunday for two days of meetings with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
It was the first time the pair had met in person since
early 2020.
Australians being able to see their prime minister in Queenstown could boost bookings to the resort town for the upcoming ski season, Queenstown’s XTravel agent Tori Keating said.
"I think the fact they can see him here, we’re not wearing masks, not necessarily socially distancing and living a relatively Covid-free life existence probably will instil a bit of confidence into the potential travellers," she said.
Mr Morrison’s visit was giving the general public a better idea of what happened when travel was paused with a state, Janine Mallon from The Travel Brokers Dunedin said.
"Scott Morrison still being in Queenstown ... reinforces the fact that other states are not impacted at this point," Ms Mallon said.
Quarantine-free travel to Victoria was paused until at least Friday by Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins last week, amid a growing outbreak of Covid-19 in Melbourne.
Yesterday, the state’s cluster grew to more than 40 cases.
The current outbreak is the fourth time travel has been suspended to Australia, following small outbreaks in Western Australian and New South Wales.
Travel bookings had not been affected, as most clients had held off travelling for a few months, Ms Keating said.
"They were waiting for the bubble to be up and running for a couple of months.
"But we do have the odd person who is now cancelling or rearranging their travel,"she said.
Ms Keating said bookings to Australia had been steady. Most were people going to see family and friends.
New Zealand holidaymakers were more interested in Rarotonga than Australia, she said.
It was hard to tell whether new bookings had been affected by the pause, Ms Mallon said.
"It is hard to know what bookings aren’t coming your way because of it, but it has potentially stopped the market for bookings to Melbourne in the interim, I would imagine," she said.
Travellers who booked through travel agents and were affected by any travel pause should be well supported by their provider to make changes, Ms Mallon said.
Twelve direct services, six inbound and six outbound, between Queenstown and Melbourne had been cancelled over the pause period to June 4.
