Tracy Pool said comments by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson this week that Aucklanders would be allowed to leave the city next month, with Australia and the rest of the world to follow by March, would give the embattled hospitality sector hope.
"That’s all we need, that piece of hope that we’re going back to normal — the Covid normal," Ms Pool said.
The Government is considering options for Aucklanders to leave the city for Christmas and the summer holidays because of the likelihood the region’s three district health boards (DHB) will reach a 90% double vaccination target ahead of the rest of the country.
Its current policy is the boundary around the region will not be removed until its traffic light framework is fully in place, which requires every DHB in the country to reach the 90% target.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins on Thursday said one option being considered was allocating time slots for those travelling out of the region by road.
Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson yesterday said he did not think that was practical, "but we do have to find a way through in the event that we still have a boundary there".
Ms Pool said Queenstown’s hospitality sector would embrace the vaccine certificate system being developed by the Government.
If businesses had assurance they were on a firm legal footing, they would "do anything that makes this work ... we haven’t gone through these last 18 months of absolute hell to stumble at the last hurdle."
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce leader Ruth Stokes said Mr Robertson told participants in a business webinar earlier this week the Government was "committed to
international border reopening in the first quarter of next year".
It was rushing through legislation and other measures such as health orders aimed at giving employers legal protection for requiring their staff to be vaccinated.
That was paving the way for a system of vaccine passes for consumers and vaccination certificates for businesses, other organisations and events.
"So if you’re a business that has to operate under a vaccine certificate, that will de facto mean a mandatory vaccine requirement for customers, suppliers and staff — so anyone on those premises."
Vaccine passes would have a QR code that people would scan as they entered a business or venue.
They would record users as vaccinated whether they were vaccinated in New Zealand, vaccinated internationally with another approved vaccine, or unvaccinated but with a medical clearance.
"We’ll move from contact tracing and scanning-in to a mandatory pass-in — it’ll just be what we do," Ms Stokes said.
