First Tourists in Two Years Land in Australia

The first international visitors in two years arrived in Australia at 6:20 a.m. local time Monday, heralding a return to tourism for one of the most popular destinations in the world.

Australian national carrier Qantas Airways landed in Sydney after leaving Los Angeles, in what was the first of what was expected to be 56 international flights arriving in Australia in the first 24 hours of the country’s reopening.

Australia had previously announced it would reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers on Monday, February 21. The nation has had a virtual lockdown since March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourists from any country in the world who have received a full dose of an approved coronavirus vaccine will be allowed to enter Australia. Travelers must present a negative rapid antigen test or PCR test taken within 24 hours of departure.

The first tourists to set foot in the country were greeted with fanfare by airline and airport employees, according to ABC News. They handed out stuffed koala bears, Tim Tams chocolate cookies and, of course, Australia’s famous vegemite spread.

“I think there’ll be a very strong rebound in our tourism market,” Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan told ABC. “Our wonderful experiences haven’t gone away.”

Government officials hope that tourism bounces back quickly after being shut down for two years. But Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said it will likely take another two years before reaching pre-pandemic numbers.

“This is a really great start,” Harrison said. “This is what the industry had been asking us for, you know, just give us our international guests back and we will take it from there.”