Today marks an exciting moment in Australia’s #ArrivalRevival, with international borders reopening, one-way quarantine-free travel from NZ relaunching and NSW domestic travel for fully vaccinated residents restarting.
Ready to Feel New? The good news for Sydneysiders is that regional tourism in NSW has returned today, with the state government predicting business confidence will soar as pent up demand sees travellers booking holidays.
NSW state premier Dominic Perrottet celebrated the milestone – which was delayed by two weeks – by travelling to Dubbo with Deputy Premier Paul Toole, who dismissed concerns about lower vaccination rates in the regions.
More than 80 per cent of regional local government areas are now double vaccinated, compared to 36 per cent two weeks ago, Mr Toole noted.
Mr Perrottet urged people to consider travelling to the NSW regions – even after other states open their borders.
“My message today is … don’t go interstate – come out to regional NSW and enjoy the best the state has to offer,” he said.
State cabinet will meet this week to consider if the December 1 deadline for freedoms to be extended to the unvaccinated can be brought forward.
Last week, Destination New South Wales launched their new tourism campaign, ‘Feel New’, an open invitation for all to come and feel new in NSW and be transformed by the myriad of energising benefits the state offers visitors.
Quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia has also restarted today, in a surprising announcement which Tourism Minister Dan Tehan says is another important marker on the road to recovery.
And the day’s excitement doesn’t stop there, with international borders NOW OPEN in selected states.
From today, Australians can fly to the United Kingdom, the US, Canada, Italy, Greece, Germany and South Africa, all without the need for any quarantining either way in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.
The first flight, Singapore Airlines SQ221 landed from Singapore early this morning, shortly followed by the first Qantas flight from Los Angeles, QF12 touched down on Australian home soil.
In total, fourteen international flights are expected to land in Sydney today with scheduled departures also departing Australia later in the day.
Today is most certainly a day to remember.
Source: AAP
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