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This opinion piece outlines the actions taken by the New Zealand government and tourism sectors in response to Covid-19 and to explore the potential lessons for resilience building in tourism for other destinations.

The analysis integrates descriptions of the Covid-19 outbreak and tourism-related policy responses in New Zealand, taken from prominent medical, governmental and journalistic accounts.

The resilience of the economy and domestic tourism was a major New Zealand policy priority, but this was seen by the Ardern administration as best achieved by first ensuring the health and well-being of the populace, as quickly and comprehensively as possible. This, in turn, required proactive, nationally coordinated measures designed to minimize the spread of Covid-19 including: lockdowns, preventive social-distancing and mask mandates, a four-level graduated strategy for ensuring national Covid-19 recovery (which later morphed into the “traffic light” system) and closely following the medical and epidemiological advice of experts in the related academic sciences. As a result of these, the negative impact on health, the overall economy and the tourism sector was substantially minimized, when compared with many other similar nations during the 2020–2022 period.

The New Zealand experience holds important lessons for preserving and rebuilding the hospitality and tourism industry in the aftermath of Covid-19, and during future similar pandemics.