Dasha Kuprienko/ Stuff
Queenstown has been badly hit by the lack of tourists over the last year.
“The further you are from Auckland, the tougher it gets. You have to get on an airplane, and it’s pretty expensive.”
Regions reliant on tourists, such as Queenstown and the West Coast, had asked the Government for more assistance and been turned down.
A couple of weeks ago, after it became clear there was no support package for tourism generally, Boult said he had asked the Government for a date when trans-Tasman travel would begin, but had not been given one.
“Businesses are looking down a pretty dark hole. If we have a date, many of them will find a way to survive.”