Wow! Great news for travelers. Australia is reopening its borders to quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated travelers on February 21, 2022.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “If you’re double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back.”
To be eligible to enter Australia, international travelers must:
- Hold a valid Australian visa.
- Be fully vaccinated with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and provide proof of vaccination status.
- Present a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) or Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Covid-19 test taken within 24 hours of departure (unless a medical exemption applies).
- As of February 7, 2022, fully vaccinated visa holders can enter all states and territories quarantine-free from February 21, 2022, except for Western Australia.
- Travellers will need to comply with requirements in the state or territory of their arrival, and any other state or territories that they plan to travel to. Information on entry requirements is updated regularly so it is important to check the latest requirements before travelling. Travellers are also encouraged to check any requirements for stopover destinations that they are transitioning through.
- For requirements for travel into specific states and territories in Australia, visit the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs website | State and Territory Information.
- For more information on travelling to Australia visit the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs I Travelling to Australia .
Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said: “Australia has long been a popular destination for American travellers, with 818,000 U.S. visitors travelling to our country in 2019 pre-COVID, and we are really excited that we will have the opportunity to welcome back visitors from the U.S., one of our key international markets, as travel resumes.”
USA to Australia by the Numbers:
- Of the 44.8 million Americans who traveled internationally during 2019, 818,000 traveled to Australia, making up 9% of all Australia’s international arrivals.
- Of the 818,000 USA visitors’ arrivals into Australia, 565,000 were visiting for leisure purposes. 49% of visitors visited for a holiday and 25% visited friends and relatives.
- 43% percent of U.S. leisure travelers are repeat visitors to Australia, in which 42% have visited the country more than twice. This familiarity with our country is a huge strength, and an opportunity to encourage them to explore new and less familiar Australian destinations
- USA travelers spend on average 13 nights holidaying in Australia of which 69% are spent in capital cities. 45% of USA holiday travelers stay in hotel/motel/resort-style accommodations.
- 55% of all visitors from the U.S. in 2019 visited two or more cities or regions in Australia. Sydney was the most visited city followed by Melbourne, then Brisbane.
- S. travel to Australia is impacted by some seasonality; peak periods of travel occur between October-March, the months representing 59% of all travel.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics- International Visitor Survey YE Dec 2019.
