Starting Monday (21/2), Australia has finally reopened its international
borders to foreign tourists after being closed for the past two years. The
opening of this entrance will apply to travelers who have received the full
Covid-19 vaccine.
Reuters reports that there will be more than 50 international flights
arriving in Australia throughout Monday, 27 of which will arrive in Sydney.
This step is expected to revive the tourism and hospitality sector, which
has slumped since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the reopening of the border
was something he had been waiting for for a long time. He said he was happy
that he was finally able to make this decision.
"This is a very exciting day, a day I have been waiting for a long time,
since I first closed the border right at the start of the pandemic," said
Morrison, who is on the island of Tasmania, one of Australia's tourism hubs.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Australia had managed to control the
spread of Covid-19. Australia has finally turned to stricter rules and a
relentless lockdown since late last year after achieving higher vaccination
rates.
Migrants with essential skills, international students and backpackers have
been allowed to fly to Australia since November in a tough reopening
exercise.
Tourism as one of Australia's largest industries
According to Reuters, tourism is one of Australia's largest industries with
a value of more than A$60 billion.
This sector has also succeeded in sucking up to 5% of the workforce in the
country. Unfortunately, this sector seems to be paralyzed since the
government closed its borders in March 2020.
Australian Tourism Minister Dan Tehan hopes there will be a very strong
rebound once the borders reopen. Tehan believes the tourist spots in his
country will soon be bustling again.
"There will be parties here, music playing, smiles on people's faces, they
will be dancing soon, I'm sure," said Tehan.
Tehan added that Qantas Airlines hopes to fly more than 14,000 passengers to
Australia this week. Virgin Australia Airlines is also reportedly seeing a
positive trend in domestic bookings and continues to assess demand for
international flights.
The reopening of the border for tourism comes as Australia's Omicron-related
Covid-19 cases appear to have passed their peak. This belief is based on
hospital admissions which have steadily declined over the past three weeks.
Australia has recorded 2.7 million cases of Covid-19 with a total of 4,929
deaths to date. The number has increased quite rapidly since Omicron arrived
last November.
