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‘We were very blessed’: in the Cook Islands, pandemic proved a welcome respite from tourists.

Emmanuel Samoglou, 19 August, 2021

For nearly a year and a half after the pandemic began, the Cook Islands didn’t have any tourists. In early 2020, the South Pacific country closed its borders to keep Covid-19 out and closed down the country’s most important industry.

Hotels shut down and the government had to borrow tens of millions of dollars to keep the economy going. Large numbers of people left to find work in New Zealand.

That all changed in May, 2021 when a “travel bubble” with New Zealand began. Within weeks, thousands of New Zealanders had booked tickets to escape the winter and enjoy a tropical holiday on a green island that has never recorded a case of Covid-19.

Once again, Rarotonga – the most populous island in the Cook archipelago – was bustling. Markets were busy, and restaurants, rental cars, and guided tours were fully booked. But not everybody is happy.

“During Covid, I thought we were blessed,” says Alex King, a photographer. “People started to grow food again, spending more time with their families, and we tried to help one another during a financially hard time for many people.”

It was a big change for the Cook Islands, which had a record number of visitors in 2019. The country’s population is 17,500 but, that year, it welcomed nearly 172,000 visitors – a 37% increase from five years earlier. In just ten years, income doubled to just over NZ$30,000 per person.

“As someone who has worked in the tourism industry for years, it is easy to understand why it was such an important part of our lives,” says King. “But over the past few years, I’ve seen exactly what effect this industry is having on our environment, our culture, and our community.”

Calls for government to control tourism go back to the early 90s, when the Cook Islands welcomed just 35,000 tourists a year. In 2017, the MP Selina Napa called on the government to limit arrival numbers. Despite strong opposition from the government and industry at the time, she hasn’t changed her mind. “We are a small island nation and the only real resource we have are our beautiful islands, which the tourists are here to enjoy.”

Thinking about the increase in tourism since her childhood days on Rarotonga, Alex King says the country is lucky to have a thriving industry, but it could cause real damage to the environment. “This industry is a double-edged sword,” she says.

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