The proposal of a single tourist visa for Australia and New Zealand

The peak tourism bodies of New Zealand and Australia has started a lobby on the eve of ANZAC day, that calls for the migration ministers on both countries to come up with a single tourist visa to enable travel between Australia and New Zealand so visitors won’t have to apply for 2 separate visas when making long haul flights between the 2 countries.

This new development comes after a study made by the government of New Zealand found that 43 per cent of the 7,578 single trans-Tasman visas that were provided during last year’s Cricket World Cup were granted to nationals from China. The interesting thing about it is that China didn’t even have a team included in the prestigious competition.

The tourism ministers of both Australia and New Zealand state that if entry was granted to these 2 countries, more travellers could be encouraged to make long haul flights to this part of the world. Both Australian and New Zealand citizens have reciprocal travel and work rights however, tourists from other countries need to apply for a separate visa if travelling to these 2 countries.

Both the heads of the 2 tourism bodies, Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) and Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) Australia, released a joint statement welcoming a visa that would be designed to make travelling easier for visitors in both countries.

”Australia and New Zealand are long-haul destinations – it makes a lot of sense for us to package the 2 countries together,” Ms Margy Osmond, the chief executive of TFF Australia, said during an interview.

She continued on to say, ”The reality is that if you are coming halfway around the world to Australia or New Zealand you want to make it worth your while.”

Both TIA New Zealand and TTF Australia said that they had forwarded a written letter to Mr Peter Dutton, the minister for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, asking that the trans-Tasman visa may be made permanent by the end of 2016.

Source: MigrationAlliance.com.au