Fully vaccinated Indians can travel to Australia

New Delhi, Feb 22: Tourism Australia on Monday said the country has opened its borders for all categories of fully-vaccinated Indian travellers for quarantine-free travel, PTI reported.

Australia will be welcoming back travellers from India with borders now open for quarantine-free travel, for fully-vaccinated visa holders pre-Covid, Tourism Australia said in a statement.

In 2019, Australia welcomed almost 4,00,000 visitors from India and was the sixth most-valuable market for spending, contributing over AUD 1.8 billion.

"We are excited to be welcoming back international visitors who make up a critical part of our visitor economy. We know Australia remains an incredibly desirable destination, especially for visitors from India and we can't wait to once again share all of the unforgettable tourism experiences we have to offer here in Australia," Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said.

Tourism Australia's recent Consumer Demand Project research suggested that 1.8 million (or 82 per cent) out of 2.2 million High Value Travellers from India intend to visit Australia over the next two years.

This demand is well complemented by the boost to direct aviation access between India and Australia with the commencement of direct flights by Qantas and Air India in recent times.

Another initiative to encourage holiday visitors from India is the Visa Application Charge (VAC) waiver announcement by the Department of Home Affairs, for those tourists whose visa to Australia has either expired or will expire between March 20, 2020 and June 30, 2022.

"Our research has consistently shown that there is a huge pent-up demand for travel to Australia amongst Indian travellers. We expect the footfalls from India to surge as the Australia borders are opened in line with the upcoming summer holidays in India," Tourism Australia Country Manager - India, Nishant Kashikar told PTI.

He said this surge in footfalls will also depend on the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) liftng the ban on scheduled international flights on February 28.

"Lifting of the ban on scheduled international flights by DGCA will help restore aviation capacity and facilitate recovery of the tourism economy," he added.

Earlier in 2021, Australian borders were opened only for students, skilled workers and parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents (who needed a travel exemption before entering Australia).

(PTI)