After Australia opens borders, bookings rise 10% in February: Tourism officials

Just a week after Australia reopened its borders to international travellers on February 21, interest from Indians looking to travel there has soared.

Search queries for travel to popular Australian cities have risen 25-30 percent in February and bookings have increased by about 10 percent from January, travel agents, airlines and online platforms told Moneycontrol.

Data from travel portals such as Yatra.com and Ixigo show flight bookings to Australia have risen by about 10 percent since February 21 and are expected to increase further in March as more flights start operating.

“Australia has always been a popular choice for Indian students and leisure travellers and there is huge pent-up demand for the destination… Travel search queries from India for Australian cities like Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney have jumped 15-20 percent this month,” said Aloke Bajpai, cofounder of Ixigo.

Australia’s strict measures during the pandemic have helped it to contain deaths from Covid-19 to about 5,210, according to the government’s health department website. The country closed borders for almost two years during the pandemic.

With the borders now reopened to international tourists, Indians are looking forward to meeting family members, joining universities and planning vacations in Australia.

Visa charge waiver

The waiver of visa application charges for tourists whose Australian visas have expired or will expire between March 20, 2020, and June 30, 2022, will encourage Indians to plan holidays in Australia, said Rajeev Kale, country head at Thomas Cook (India).

The application charge for a tourist visa to Australia costs about Rs 10,000 while a working holiday visa costs Rs 27,000, according to data on the Australian government’s website.

“In addition to the commencement of direct flights to Australia by Qantas and Air India, the impending announcement on restart of international commercial aviation will further boost demand and help the sector in early revival,” Kale said.

Travel agents expect the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup in October-November this year to fuel further demand for travel to Australia.

There’s also been a surge in bookings from various other countries to Australia after the borders were reopened. Bookings for flights to Australia doubled on the first day after the announcement that borders would open, said Andrew David, chief executive officer of Qantas Airways.

“Bookings are strongest out of the US and the UK and we’ve also seen spikes from South Africa, India and Canada, with March, April and May the most popular months for travel,” David said.

Qantas Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways have seen a significant rise in international ticket searches and bookings to Australia.

Hurdles in recovery

Still, travellers and tourism operators are cautiously optimistic about the reopening of Australia’s borders. There are concerns over whether the nation’s Covid vaccine and testing requirements as well as mask mandates will make the return of international travel more of a trickle than a splash.

Travellers entering Australia must be fully vaccinated to avoid a costly hotel quarantine and must test before arrival. Passengers arriving by air into Australia should complete a Digital Passenger Declaration and carry proof of vaccination status when checking-in for their flight. The declaration must provide health information, vaccination status and results of a Covid-19 test taken not more than 72 hours before the flight.

Travellers also need to comply with requirements in the state or territory of their arrival and also of other states or territories they may visit. This includes quarantine and post-arrival testing requirements.

The Australian Tourism Export Council had warned last month that there are worrying signs that consumers are wary of travelling to Australia, with confusion over various state travel restrictions and concerns over snap border closures.

Western Australia, one of the biggest states in the country, plans to reopen to vaccinated travellers only from March 3, with testing rules and quarantine on arrival and this may ward off tourists until the restrictions are eased, an official from Expedia said.

“While there has been an immediate jump in bookings, most travellers are also very cautious about travelling immediately. No one’s sure if it’s really open or not. Will it close again? Will they get stuck there?” the official said.

Visa wait time

Australia’s tourist visa approvals and reputation for rigidity and reclusiveness during the pandemic may also be a hurdle.

On an average, Australia gets about 10,000 visa applications from India every six months and 75 percent of them are processed, officials at VFS Global said.

“If you have health problems or a bad immigration record, then getting a visit visa for Australia can take a few tries. In most cases, applications are rejected because of lack of proper hotel bookings and travel documents,” said an executive from New Delhi-based Welgrow Travels.

The executive said medical examinations are required for visa applications and patients considered high risk are denied visit visas in some cases.

Passengers planning to travel to Australia may have to wait 30 days on average for visas to be processed, which is longer than the time taken for visas to European, African and Asian countries, officials at VFS Global said.

“Visa processing will not take longer despite Covid-19 related restrictions and with the Australian government pushing to revive the tourism sector, we expect visa processing time to only reduce in the coming months,” an official at VFS Global said.

The official said skilled workers and international students will be given preference and so the wait for tourist visas might stretch beyond 30 days. Australia is also giving priority to processing travel documents for Ukrainians seeking refuge from the war with Russia.