Australia tourism to resume

[Kohby190]

Tourism is set to resume on the 21st February, what is the mood on Australia in the UK?

Has Australia’s reputation been damaged? What are your thoughts on different states having different restrictions?

Would Australia be a destination you would entertain?
We have spent millions on tourism campaigns to entice people back to Australia and I wondered if that was money well spent?

We want to return to visit family asap but we cant risk it this year/soon. Qhat happens if we spend all this money and arrive and catch omicron (from experience we might not even be aware....) then have to isolate for half our trip?!

We need to wait until things are more settled.

I understand and had assumed that a lot of tourists may actually be people with close ties to Australia than the more traditional tourist that is purely looking to holiday, in which case the advertising campaigns would have little effect on.

No your reputation isn’t dented. Been feeling rather sorry for you and NZ. Be nice to see more of you about the place. Can’t face long haul myself ATM but Australia is still on my list of places to go. Congrats on getting your freedom.

Ah yes to answer Q I don't think "reputation" is dented, more been aware we couldn't travel/ risks with states locking down. We are well aware of bizarre political judgements and bickering ourselves...!!

I haven't seen any advertising though but we don't watch much live tv.

I'm a citizen and don't feel welcome to return, waiting for family to come here

I think the worries people have about Australia are the worries people have about travelling abroad in general.

I don’t want to go abroad anywhere at the moment because of all the restrictions that could change any second.

It might be relatively easy to travel somewhere today so I could book something but everything could change again in a few months when I am actually due to go.

I’m plus as someone else has pointed out, if you then go on to test positive it’s just too much hassle for me to even contemplate.

Probably helps that I am not in the routine of travelling abroad yearly even before Covid so I am happy to wait until the whole thing calms down.

I'd still visit although I haven't personally agreed with the Covid response. No family ties there.

@Waxonwaxoff0
I haven't personally agreed with the covid response either. I have a sibling in one of the Sydney suburbs with the strictest lockdown last year. They are now considering returning to the UK.

[quote Svara]**@Waxonwaxoff0
I haven't personally agreed with the covid response either. I have a sibling in one of the Sydney suburbs with the strictest lockdown last year. They are now considering returning to the UK.[/quote]
It's been very extreme. I wouldn't have liked to be living there in these times.

[quote Svara]**@Waxonwaxoff0
I haven't personally agreed with the covid response either. I have a sibling in one of the Sydney suburbs with the strictest lockdown last year. They are now considering returning to the UK.[/quote]
Locked in their apartments for three months with no daily exercise like in Spain were they? It may have been long but it certainly wasn't as strict as other countries

ig.ft.com/coronavirus-lockdowns/

I'm so glad we visited NZ in 2019 to see relatives and friends and travel.
I'd love to go to Australia ( we stopped in Sydney on the way back) and it looks like an amazing country- no one needs to spend money convincing me of that.

However it will be at least a couple more years before I attempt long haul again, too nervous about rules changing and losing large amounts of money on the flights, plus Aus - along with NZ - felt very trigger happy with mass lockdowns.

Also not having been to Europe in the last couple of years, happy to travel closer to home.

Any chance of isolation is a concern - is that still in place and do you test when you arrive?

Swift action re any new variant too, welcome and open is on Aus terms which we know can change

I’d go though only due to family but when no risk of isolation on arrival

I’d travel anywhere .. got 3 trips abroad booked this year. We & the kids can’t wait 🙌🏼 We all know it could be cancelled & are fully prepared to be disappointed but life is too short to not have stuff to look forwards too! Roll on April!

I’d happily go to Aus if it wasn’t a billion miles away. I couldn’t care less if our ‘reputation was damaged’.. what are Aussies going to do? Call us names while we lay on the beach or eat our dinner?! I doubt it..

I think the risks of traveling internationally are similar in many countries.

For many locations including the east coast of Australia, if you’re planning to go there for months it’s not such a big deal but if you want a shorter 2-3 week break you run the risk of having to isolate for some/most of your holiday because you have caught covid.

I really can’t see the east coast locking down again but can’t say the same for other parts particularly NT and WA. East coast is open again but not all businesses have survived covid.

People have short memories, tourists will be back.

Locked in their apartments for three months with no daily exercise like in Spain were they? It may have been long but it certainly wasn't as strict as other countries
I didn't say it was . They were in the area of Sydney with the strictest lockdown in the state. They were alone with a young child and it was extremely isolating and had a significant effect on their mental health.

One of the mums at school is Australian. We were talking about this yesterday. She wants to see her family but cannot take the risk of a lockdown preventing her from returning to the UK. her parents are vulnerable and unwilling to visit her. Her sister is in the middle of chemo so ditto.

Current plan is to wait until the end of the year before even considering it.

Interesting, thanks for the feedback.

I have been less than impressed with the response to Covid and agree that (some) Australians including myself feel battered by our government and their policies.

Im sorry for your family @Svara, it was extremely tough and heavy handed, I have personally felt a lot of distrust for police because of how heavy handed they were/are toward citizens.

I have been reading the comment section on Australian tourism Facebook posts and they have been less than favorable but I suppose disgruntled people are more likely to comment.

Regarding isolation/testing etc it differs from state to state so it’s hard to keep up, Western Australia has announced today they will open the border on 3rd March with lots of caveats. The east coast is mostly open however I believe NSW is the only state not doing vaccine passports, I know QLD, VIC, NT and WA have them for pretty much everywhere, indoor mask mandate, honestly it varies so much that I’m not even comfortable traveling outside of my state at the moment although I know that I will be able to return home since NSW never banned citizens from coming home from interstate.
It’s all still a bit messy in my opinion.

I think the other issue about travel to Australia is that you need to go via another country so of course have all the covid shenanigans for there as well. We went via Qatar and I'd sure as heck not want to end up stuck there in quarantine.

@Kohby190
I'm sure the trust in police will have been set back years for some groups. There seemed to be a lot of anger at how western Sydney was treated compared to more affluent suburbs as well.

If I go back I want to be able to travel a bit, not just stay in NSW, especially since we would be tied to UK summer holidays, I'd like to go somewhere warm for a week! I would not consider it this year at least.

My dad, step mum and their 3 kids together live in Queensland. There’s zero chance I’m going out there to visit them in the recent future. We don’t have 12.5k dollars to isolate (2.5k dollars pp, there’s 5 of us) and they may just shut the borders at any point and we can’t just get stuck out there.

Equally, my dad and step mum are reluctant to travel back to the UK, again in case they go and shut the borders again whilst they’re away and they can’t get back into the country. So between us we’ve reached a stalemate and will likely just not see each other for a few more years.

In my personal opinion I think it’s going to be a long time before tourism recovers in NZ and Aus. I won’t be the only person scared of getting shut in the country unable to go home and my family won’t be the only Australian citizens worried about travelling anywhere in case they get stuck abroad.

I'd love to travel to Aus again but not until they've dropped all covid restrictions including testing and isolation.

We are going to France this year so we can get home quickly if we need to.

I think will be largely those with family. I travel mainly to the EU and everyday that's getting easier. No more testing for most countries if vax, mostly don't have masks anymore and yes there are covid passports but the atmosphere is very relaxed generally having travelled 3x abroad in last 8 months.

There are easier places to go than Australia. I don't want to go anywhere where i have to wear a mask given UK has got rid of masks! I woldnt go anywhere were the rules are more strict than home - its mean to be a holiday!

Not that fussed about their Covid regulations, but wouldn't consider a holiday in Australia for environmental reasons - mostly because the carbon cost of my flight from the UK is indefensible for a holiday but partly because Australia's emissions and governmental approach are pretty bad (improving, but still not good).

Aus is such a big holiday for people here, I doubt most would risk it until there's no danger of having to isolate/they've gotten rid of masks. Just not worth it.