Australia to Reopen Borders to Fully Vaccinated Tourists Starting From Feb. 21

“There are a lot of tourism operators in city centers and the regions that have been doing it really tough over the past couple of years and this will see more tourists come to their town, spend money and get local economies going again."

“We will be looking at our schedules to see if we can restart flights from more international destinations sooner or add capacity to those routes we are already flying. We have the flexibility to ramp up flights in response to demand.”

Around 660,000 people are working in the tourism industry in Australia.

Also read: US, Australia Donate Ventilators to Help Indonesia Combat Covid-19

The government shut the international border to everyone except Australian citizens and residents in March 2020 amid what was then the emerging coronavirus pandemic.

It was an unprecedented step up from the travel bans that had been in place for anyone from China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea in an attempt to slow the spread of Covid-19 in Australia.

The government has slowly begun to reopen to certain countries and people, first with the New Zealand travel bubble and most recently allowing tourists from Japan and South Korea, along with some visa holders, back into Australia.