New Zealand has fully reopened to international visitors, ending the last of the travel restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Source: Aljazeera]

The South Pacific country began easing its tough border regime in February.

New Zealand has fully reopened to international visitors, lifting the last remnants of one of the toughest border regimes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country began reopening its borders in February with the lifting of restrictions on New Zealand citizens, followed in May by the return of tourists from more than 50 countries including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The final border restrictions ended at midnight on Sunday with tourists from non-visa waiver countries, international students, and cruise ships allowed to enter the country.

Most visitors will still need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and take two tests after arriving, but will not have to quarantine.

New Zealand mostly kept COVID-19 out of the country during the pandemic until the arrival of the highly infectious Omicron variant in December rendering its tough border controls largely moot.

Before the pandemic, tourism and international education were New Zealand’s biggest and fourth-largest exports, respectively, with the former employing more than 225,000 people.