The Government will announce further decisions on the border tomorrow, giving more certainty to tourism operators.
Ms Ardern said the Government had taken into account a large range of options and considered operators’ peak times.
Business South chief executive Mike Collins said it would be "really encouraging" if the Government brought forward the dates for tourists to be allowed back in the country.
It would be much needed stimulus for the region’s tourism and hospitality sectors, which had been through two "incredibly tough" years.
News of the announcement was welcomed by Queenstown business operators.
"We obviously probably need full international travel to come back ... but even with the Aussie borders, if we get Aussies coming over here freely, that would make a big difference to our business," Pure Glenorchy tour owner Joel Lamason said.
At present, fully vaccinated Australians and visitors from visa waiver countries would not be allowed into New Zealand until July and visitors from the rest of the world until October.
Both groups still needed to self-isolate on arrival, but it was hoped the Government would scrap that requirement.
Hotel Moritz general manager Jo Finnigan said Australian vaccine passes also needed to be recognised in New Zealand.
"Once we see our Aussies come through the border, we need to make sure their visit here is seamless," she said.
To properly service an influx of international visitors, accommodation and hospitality businesses said they would need to scale up staff numbers, and were recruiting amid a worker shortage.
Fully vaccinated travellers on a working holiday scheme were able to enter New Zealand from Sunday but Ms Finnigan said she had not seen the impact of that yet.
"We’re hesitant to scale back up because we haven’t seen that working holiday visa demand ...
"Over the next week or two we will be waiting to see how it looks in order to support the staff that we already have," Ms Finnigan said.
"Obviously everybody who’s in hospitality would be very welcoming of more people in the region.
"There are some considerations around how we are going to service all of these additional people, whilst our staff are self-isolating.
The restaurant was only open five days a week, and they have had to close their pop up, Little Aosta, just two weeks after it opened.
"We’re now looking at doing seven days and getting more staff so that we have the ability to consolidate if we have another outbreak."
If the Government was to open borders sooner, he could re-employ some of his old staff.
