‘Fortress Australia’ re-opens after two-year Covid closure

Passengers are greeted at Melbourne’s international airport on February 21, 2022 as Australia opens its international borders to all vaccinated tourists, nearly two years after the island nation first imposed some of the world’s strictest Covid-19 travel restrictions. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia opened its international borders to all vaccinated tourists Monday, nearly two years after the island nation first imposed some of the world’s strictest Covid-19 travel restrictions.

A Qantas flight from Los Angeles was the first to touch down in Sydney at 6:20 am (1720 GMT) followed by arrivals from Tokyo, Vancouver and Singapore.

“It’s fair to say we’ve all been waiting a long time to welcome visitors back to Australia,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.

The national carrier expects to more bring than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week — the start of what many believe will be a long, slow recovery for a tourism sector devastated by the pandemic.

“I think we’re going to see a very, very strong rebound,” Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said at Sydney airport, wearing a t-shirt with the words: “Welcome Back”.

Travelers wait in line after verifying their Covid-19 vaccination status as they check-in for a flight to Sydney, Australia on Qantas Airways Ltd. inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on November 1, 2021 in Los Angeles, California, as Australia’s international border reopens almost 600 days after a pandemic closure began. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP)

Attracting tourists from China, previously Australia’s biggest market, would be difficult while the country enforced a zero-Covid policy, Tehan said.

“But as soon as that changes, Tourism Australia have been doing a lot of work to make sure that we will be ready to encourage those Chinese visitors to come.”

Only 56 international flights are scheduled to land in Australia in the 24 hours after the re-opening — far below pre-pandemic levels — but Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had “no doubt” the number will scale up in time.

‘Fortress Australia’

Australia closed its borders to almost everyone except citizens and residents in March 2020 in an attempt to slow surging Covid-19 case numbers.

The travel ban — which also barred citizens from travelling overseas without an exemption and imposed a strict cap on international arrivals — earned the country the nickname “Fortress Australia”.

Every month under the policies has cost businesses an estimated AUS$ 3.6 billion ($2.6 billion), according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with tourism particularly hard hit.

This photo taken on November 20, 2014 shows an aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of the Whitsunday Islands, along the central coast of Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park encompasses about 99 percent of the World Heritage-listed natural wonder, with the additional one percent outside the marine park but within the heritage-listed area — about 3,600 square kilometres (1,390 square miles) — being managed by the Queensland state government and includes most islands and ports, as well as lakes and other waterways. AFP PHOTO / SARAH LAI (Photo by Sarah Lai / AFP)

Tony Walker, managing director of Quicksilver Group, which operates cruises, diving excursions and resorts across the Great Barrier Reef, told AFP he was “very excited about being able to re-open”.

International tourists “make up around 70 percent” of business for tourism operators on the reef, Walker said, making the two-year border closure “incredibly difficult”.

A photo taken on September 22, 2014, shows a dive instructor from the Ocean Freedom diving on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The 2,300-kilometre-long reef contributes AUS$5.4 billion (US$4.8 billion) annually to the Australian economy through tourism, fishing, and scientific research, while supporting 67,000 jobs, according to government data. According to an Australian government report in August, the outlook for the Earth’s largest living structure is “poor”, with climate change posing the most serious threat to the extensive coral reef ecosystem. AFP PHOTO/William WEST (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

During the pandemic, his company had to reduce its employees from 650 to the 300 it has today.

Morrison on Sunday said tourism had “really borne the brunt of this Covid pandemic” and he thanked the sector.

“It’s been tough, but Australia is pushing through,” he added.

No west just yet

A surfboard rider takes off on a wave at the Margaret River break in the world-renowned surfing area of the south-west corner of Western Australia in this photo taken on May 11, 2011. The legendary coastline with its amazing surf breaks, spans an area between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin and is also famous for its premium wine growing, pristine white sandy beaches and spectacular forest scenery. (Photo by GREG WOOD / AFP)

Western Australia will not re-open to international travellers on Monday, holding off until March 3.

Until recently, the state had pursued a strict Covid-zero policy, cutting itself off from the rest of the country.

The decision sparked lawsuits — and the observation it was easier for Australians to travel to Paris than Perth — but proved popular with West Australians.

Announcing the re-opening date for triple-vaccinated travellers, state Premier Mark McGowan said “there comes a point where the border is redundant, because we’ll already have the growth of cases here”.

Morrison welcomed Western Australia’s re-opening and defended his own decision to shut the country’s borders to the world for two years.

He said it “was incredibly important and that helped us achieve in this country what few others could around the world. We have one of the lowest rates of death of Covid in the world.”

While the Australian government has launched a Aus$ 40 million advertising campaign to lure tourists back, the Australian Tourism Export Council warned this week that “there are worrying signs consumers are wary of travelling here with confusion over our various state travel restrictions and concern about snap border closures”.

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