But it's also further highlighted the difficult bind they find themselves in - risk the devastation of the coronavirus or prolong their economic suffering.
Fletcher Melvin, the head of the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce and the Private Sector Taskforce, has been pushing hard for a travel bubble.
When Aotearoa declared zero cases a week ago, he was ecstatic, and so was the government - 87 percent of the country's economy relies on tourism, three quarters of those visitors from New Zealand.