Australia further eases COVID regulations, domestic travel on the rise

Queensland has recently been crowned the tourism capital of Australia

Australia is no longer requiring visitors to declare their Covid vaccination status or obtain a travel exemption, reported The Guardian. 

After advice from the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, Clare O’Neal, minister for home affairs, announced that government would remove the restrictions imposed since the country’s borders reopened late last year.

“Removing these requirements will not only reduce delays in our airports but will encourage more visitors and skilled workers to choose Australia as a destination,” said O’Neal

In addition, cruise ship passengers and maritime crew will no longer have to file maritime travel declarations.

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Queensland has recently been crowned the tourism capital of Australia. Usually coming in third after NSW and Victoria, the Sunshine State brought in more than 20 million domestic travellers in the year leading up to March 2022.

According to data released by Tourism Research Australia, tourists visiting Queensland are spending 25 percent more compared to how it was in March 2019.

“Queensland’s unique visitor experiences are the envy of Australia and the world with so many breathtaking iconic attractions from the Great Barrier Reef to outback dinosaurs found only in Queensland,” said Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe.

He also noted that many Australians are blown away by Cairns and how it is comparable to capital cities.

South Australian tourism is also on the rise. According to Mirage.News, South Australia’s visitor economy was 95 percent of 2019 levels in April 2022, the third-best period since the pandemic began, behind May and December. 2021

On 21 February, the Australian government welcomed back fully vaccinated international travellers, which led to a 106 percent increase in international expenditure from the December quarter of 2021.

The quarterly result shows that international travellers plan to return to Australian shores despite a decline in international spending compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].