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G'day, world! First tourist flights touch down in Australia for two years

704 days later, Australia’s international borders have reopened to fully-vaccinated travellers, after being shuttered in 2020 to combat the spread of what was then a new and confounding virus.

704 days later, Australia’s international borders have reopened to fully-vaccinated travellers, after being shuttered in 2020 to combat the spread of what was then a new and confounding virus.

In what is another significant milestone moment for the nation, the first planeloads of vaccinated travellers have arrived in Sydney and Melbourne from the US, Japan and Canada, in welcome news to hospitality and tourism operators.

Qantas QF12 from Los Angeles was the first to land in Sydney International at 6.20 am with another 50 plus flights from other international destinations including Vancouver, Singapore and London expected to land in Australia throughout the day.

Qantas Syd
QF12 touches down from Los Angeles

In a push to kickstart international arrivals, Tourism Australia is spending $40 million on a campaign to entice international tourists Down Under called “Don’t go small, go Australia!”.

Speaking about the concept, Tourism Australia MD Phillipa Harrison said, “This is about the fact that people have been living smaller lives over the last two years and what better way to break out of that than to go big with a big Australian adventure.

“But you know, our campaigns are more than just catchy slogans. It’s around showcasing some of the incredible diversity and incredible experiences that we have in Australia,” she said.

Phillipa Harrison Sydney airport
Tourism Australia MD Philipa Harrison at Sydney Airport this morning

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said bookings had been strong since the Australian Government announced the country was opening to international visitors, and today’s arrivals will be the first of many.

“It’s fair to say we’ve all been waiting a long time to welcome visitors back to Australia. The thousands of international tourists arriving this week and many more over the coming months will help kickstart the tourism industry which has done it tough for the past couple of years.

“We’re in this position today thanks to the millions of Australians who rolled up their sleeves to get the jab and give the Australian Government and state and territory governments’ confidence that we can safely reopen to the world.”

Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the re-opening of Australia’s border to all overseas travellers was the injection of confidence the aviation industry needed after a difficult summer period.

“As an industry, we haven’t had the summer period we were hoping for, however, in this industry there is always a point in which things start to turn around and today is that point,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

“It’s a wonderful day for our team members who are the face of our generous and hospitable country and I know they share in the excitement to once again have international travellers onboard Virgin Australia flights, exploring all that our great nation has to offer.”

However, Peter Shelley, managing director of the Australian Tourism Export Council, said it will still take time to rebuild the sector.

“We were the first industry to fully close and will be the last industry to fully reopen and most of our businesses don’t expect to see any significant income from the inbound market until well into next year,” he said.  

“While businesses will be relieved, they also know the challenge lays ahead in rebuilding from the ground up.”

Around 9.5 million international visitors came to Australia in 2019 before border closures brought the travel industry to a standstill, Tourism Australia data shows.

Australia draws the majority of its visitors from China, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the US.

“We are going from COVID cautious to COVID confident when it comes to travel,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared to reporters at Melbourne airport on Sunday.

“Come and have one of the greatest experiences you could ever imagine – the experience you’ve been waiting for,” the prime minister, a former managing director of Tourism Australia, said.

“In the next 24 hours some 56 flights are going to touch down in Australia and that number is only going to grow”.

However, Australia’s biggest tourism market, China, will be absent.

That’s because Chinese travellers are not allowed to venture to Australia at the moment, Mr Morrison explained.

“That’s why we’re focusing our campaign on those markets that are open to travel to Australia,” he said.

Via AAP