The world is opening to international travellers with more countries announcing opening dates this week.
Bali, one of Australian’s most favourite destinations welcomed its first visitors this week; the Philippines announced it would be open to international travellers from February 10 and New Zealand will offer quarantine free travel to Aussies from July.
This week, the New Zealand government announced its borders would be opened up in stages to international travellers from the end of February.
New Zealand citizens in Australia and other eligible travellers like Australian citizens or permanent residence visa holders, where New Zealand is the primary place of residence will be the first to be welcomed back into the country when the border reopens at 11:59pm on February 27.
They will be required to self-isolate for 10 days at home and will no longer be required to go through the country’s expensive MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine). Instead travellers can self-isolate at home for ten days.
From March 14, vaccinated New Zealanders and residents from the rest of the world will also be allowed to self-isolate.
But it might not be until July that all Australians, including tourists will be allowed to return to The Land of the Long White Cloud.
“We anticipate this stage will begin no later than July. I want to place strong emphasis on this being the latest we expect this to begin,” said Prime Minister Jacinta Arden.
The Philippines, also another popular destination for Australians also revealed it would allow fully vaccinated travellers, including Australians to visit from February 10. Also included in the list of 150 countries will be visitors from the UK, Japan, Canada, Italy and the United States.
“(This) will contribute significantly to job restoration, primarily in tourism-dependent communities, and in the reopening of businesses that have earlier shut down,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said in a statement.
Travellers must present negative RT-PCR results from a test taken within 48 hours of departure from their country of origin and must self-monitor for symptoms for seven days after arrival, reporting to local government authorities if they begin to exhibit COVID-19 symptoms.
And there is good news for Australians wanting to get back to the popular island paradise of Bali.
Fully vaccinated Australians can now travel to Bali however they must spend at least five days at a designated five-star resort in Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, Sanur or Ubud. If they are partially vaccinated the quarantine period is increased to seven days.
They have been set up as ‘quarantine bubbles’ where guests are not confined to their rooms but are allowed to move around freely and use facilities including swimming pools, gyms and in-house restaurants.
Travellers will also need to supply a negative PCR test on their fourth or sixth day of travel before they’ll be permitted to leave the hotel and visit the rest of Bali.
Travellers will be asked to show proof that they have travel insurance worth at least $35,000 to cover the cost of any medical care or evacuation if they get sick with COVID-19 while they are holidaying in Bali.
But there are still no direct flights between Australia and Bali.
Despite Australians being allowed to travel to Bali once again there may be difficulty in getting there because there are still no direct flights from Australia to Bali.
Jetstar has tentative plans to resume flights to Bali from Sydney and Melbourne at the beginning of March. But the date could be pushed forward if and when Indonesia gives the green light.
Qantas is scheduled to resume flights at the end of March and Virgin hasn’t set a date yet.
