Mark Brown

"Tourism will always be important to the Cook Islands and will be the quickest way for the country to bounce back, but it can no longer be our only primary industry. We will have to look at other sectors such as fisheries, trade, financial services, the creative economy and seabed minerals."

"We are ready (for Cook Island border reopening after COVID-19 lockdown), we are prepared and we are protected. Now (January 2022) it is time."

"We have worked very, very hard in the last two years (since 2020) to maintain our COVID-free status, and these (travel) regulations and our continual drive to get all our eligible people vaccinated, is a continuation of that."