South Yorkshire's travel industry hopeful developments in Australia will bolster confidence
Australia confirmed yesterday plans to re-open its border on the 21st of February to fully vaccinated travellers
Those working in the international travel sector across South Yorkshire are hoping that customer confidence will 'continue to grow' in 2022.
The industry received a boost yesterday when Australia confirmed plans to re-open its borders to fully vaccinated travellers later this month.
Wath-Upon-Dearne based travel agent Emma Kayne says they're still taking things day-by-day though:
"All we've done at Kayne Travel with Australia is offer guidance, advice and quotations.
"We haven't actually booked anything until now as we haven't been confident about the borders re-opening there, so this is very much a step in the right direction for us.
"It's fantastic news for the industry that Australia will be opening back up to international travellers.
"Hopefully it will instil more confidence down the line. Obviously, we don't know the full details yet on how it'll all work there in terms of testing and what not, but we'll soon find out, I'm sure."
The country's prime minister Scott Morrison said his senior ministers agreed on Monday that the border would reopen to all vaccinated visas holders from February 21.
Mr Morrison said visitors must have proof of vaccination. He referred to Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic being deported by the Australian government last month because he was not vaccinated against coronavirus.
"Events earlier in the year should have sent a very clear message, I think, to everyone around the world that that is the requirement to enter into Australia," Mr Morrison said.
The Djokovic case demonstrated that visitors gaining visas through an automated process before setting off for Australia does not guarantee that they will meet entry requirements on arrival.
Home affairs minister Karen Andrews said visitors who could provide proof of a medical reason why they could not be vaccinated could apply for a travel exemption.
Visitors to Australia could also have to contend with various states' Covid-19 rules if they move around the country.
The strictest state border rules are enforced by Western Australia which covers a third of the island continent.
The state allows only 265 international arrivals a week and requires a 14-day quarantine period.
Australia delayed its staged border reopening after two Australians who returned from southern Africa on November 27 became the first to test positive for the Omicron variant.
The arrivals of students and skilled workers were postponed by two weeks until December 15.
Tourist operators have been lobbying the government to bring tourists back sooner. The southern hemisphere summer is in its final month.