While Fiji has topped the list as the holiday spot most visited by Aussies, a throng of South Pacific destinations have revealed they too will open soon.
It’s been a big news week for the South Pacific with several countries opening up to international visitors. Vanuatu announced it would be opening its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers from July 1, with no quarantine or arrival caps imposed. And holidaymakers are now able to book flights to Port Vila with Air Vanuatu.
The airline said it will resume Port Vila services with five non-stop flights from Sydney, one direct service a week from Melbourne, and three non-stop flights per week from Brisbane, with onward connections from Port Vila to 27 destinations in Vanuatu.
“We’ve kept Vanuatu beautiful, and we’re thrilled to be welcoming travellers back to our shores come July,” said CEO of the Vanuatu Tourism Office Adela Issachar Aru.
“We’ll be using the next two months to help ready our tourism operators to ensure visitors can safely experience the very best of our islands.”
The Samoan Government this week also said it will open to travellers from August or September, subject to Samoa’s vaccination progress and the removal of restrictions to facilitate quarantine-free travel.
The island nation’s tourism industry has been hit hard due to the country’s border closures, and they are eager to receive travellers who will aid in the island’s economy recovery.
“As international travel begins to take shape again, Samoa has been striving to ensure critical components of our travel-ready toolkit are in place. All of these efforts ensure we are in a top position to safely open borders to travellers,” said Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors with open arms later this year, and we encourage travellers to experience Samoa’s untouched beauty, unique cultural experiences, rich heritage and friendly locals for themselves.”
The reopening of New Zealand to Australians has created a passage for Aussies to get to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Travellers will need to fly Air New Zealand via Auckland, although from June 2, there will also be the option to take Jetstar flights.
A supervised RAT must be taken in New Zealand within 24 hours of your scheduled departure to Rarotonga, or in Australia 48 hours prior to your scheduled Auckland-Rarotonga flight.
The New Zealand passage also means that Aussies will be able to travel to the idyllic islands of Tahiti. National carrier Air Tahiti Nui has announced flights will restart on July 3 and Air New Zealand will begin operating routes to Papeete on July 6.
Other destinations such as New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea have not officially reopened to tourists but it is anticipated they will be reopen later this year. A number of cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean and P&O, have scheduled itineraries to the South Pacific at the end of the year.
Explore more: vanuatu.travel; samoa.travel; cookislands.travel; tahititourisme.com.au
