Kiwis who are considering taking advantage of New Zealand's travel bubbles with the Cook Islands over the July school holidays are being urged to get in quick.
House of Travel's commercial director Brent Thomas told The AM Show there was initially a bit of hesitancy with Kiwis travelling to Australia and the Cook Islands under the travel bubbles, but it appears to be picking up.
"What we have seen is that the public are actually starting to book there, certainly not in the numbers of pre-COVID but they are certainly starting to pick up - particularly for the Queensland area."
"It was slow at the beginning which we expected because most people are travelling to see friends and relatives and that's what it is about the Melbourne/Victoria situation at the moment. People who are booking lots of holidays are going to places like the Gold Coast and Cairns. It's mid-20s (degrees) on the Gold Coast and upper 20s in Northern Queensland - that's what excites people at this time of year...
"As the weather gets colder in New Zealand we have seen people book in holidays."
He said there has been a significant amount of interest in the Cook Islands.
"The Cook Islands has really taken off. We are really starting to see those numbers come through, particularly for the school holidays."
Thomas is urging anyone considering travelling to the Cook Islands during the upcoming July school holidays to book as soon as possible.
"It's surprisingly actually okay in regards to capacity, both in the air - Air New Zealand is putting on more capacity - and on the ground, except for around the school holidays. So if people are looking to go in the school holidays they will need to start to act very quickly."
In Rarotonga, only a certain number of travellers are allowed to visit at a time, which is starting to fill up, but there's plenty of capacity in Australia, he said.
Thomas said international travel is also reasonably priced at the moment.
"It is a little more expensive [than it was pre-COVID] but you might be surprised that it's actually not too bad… it's still good value for a week away."
