Songs, tears and reunions: New Zealand welcomes back tourists as border reopens after two years

International visitors to New Zealand on Monday will be the first foreign visitors in more than two years, and they will be greeted with M&M's, tears, and a beloved New Zealand chocolate bar.

The international airports in New Zealand have been empty since March 2020 when the country closed the border to prevent Covid-19 from entering.

The border reopened to visa-waiver visitors on Monday morning as part of the government's phased reopening plan.

The first travellers and returning New Zealanders arrived at the airport just after 6am from Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively.

Stephen arrived with his wife and son, who they hadn't seen in over a year, Stuff reported. Stephen said the airport scenes were similar to those in Love Actually, and that it was emotional to be home.

An American tourist told RNZ that they had wanted to visit New Zealand for a long time. They said it was amazing.

International visitors who have had a negative pre-departure Covid test can enter New Zealand. They must self-test for coronaviruses if they come back positive, but there is no requirement for self-isolate.

If the government decides it is safe to allow international visitors to enter New Zealand earlier, they will be allowed to do so from October.

The tourism minister, Stuart Nash, greeted arrivals at the gate with a Whittaker's Peanut Slab chocolate bar.

He said that people haven't seen each other in a long time.

Nash said that the reopening was a step towards normal.

This has been a long time coming and it is great to see that we are open for business.

Today marks a milestone for visitors from our key northern hemisphere markets in the USA, UK, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada and others, who can now jump on a plane to come here.

The number of people entering the country has increased throughout the Pandemic, but is still below levels before the disease.

Nash said international flight searches to New Zealand were higher than in the past.

The number of passengers arriving and departing on 43 international flights on Monday is three times the number in March. She said that the airport has boosted its staff by 40 people.

The reunions gave Hurihanganui "goosebump moments", she said.

It has been a pleasure to be here today, and the fact that we can play a role in welcoming people back to New Zealand is great.