The Fijian Government wants to see Aussies and Kiwis return “as soon as possible” and has requested to become part of the proposed Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble.
The travel bubble, which would see Australians and New Zealanders able to travel freely between the two countries again (once it’s deemed safe to do so) has been agreed to in principle.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern both decided to work towards the goal after they met for a historic National Cabinet meeting earlier this month.
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Now the Fijian government has put its hand up to be part of the travel bubble too.
Fijian Attorney-General and the Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Fiji was “not resting on its laurels in its plan to join the Trans-Tasman bubble”.
He said the government would ensure it had the necessary measures in place to safely open up Fiji’s borders.
Fiji only reported 18 known cases of COVID-19, but no new cases have been reported in the past month.
“We want to know what we can do in the meantime to prepare in the event or when it does actually open up so we need to be all geared up for that, whether you know it’s regulatory frameworks in respect of medical protocols etcetera that may need to be developed and we can start those conversations now,” Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said.
Fiji is also about to start a trial of a coronavirus tracing app, which works on a similar principle to Australia’s own coronavirus app.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took to her own social media yesterday to share that she has been visiting Rotorua to discuss post COVID-19 tourism plans with local operators.
For now, she is encouraging New Zealanders to start travelling domestically but said “Australian tourists are a big part of the market here and it would be great to see them coming back”
Saying “New Zealand has had a thriving tourism industry before and we will again”.