Australia is hoping for a tourist boom this Christmas now that fully vaccinated New Zealander's are able to visit New South Wales and Victoria without quarantining.
The promised trans-Tasman influx comes as thousands of Australians ready themselves to jet off overseas by making sure their passports are up to date.
On the 30th October, Australia's chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly announced the need for New Zealand travellers to spend 14 days in quarantine would end from 11.59 pm 31 October.
Kelly said Australia's rapidly increasing vaccination coverage would allow the country to take the next steps in reopening its borders.
Quarantine-free travel will only apply to Sydney and Melbourne as NSW and Victoria are the only two states to have banned it for fully vaccinated travellers.
Any New Zealanders travelling to Australia will still need to book a MIQ spot and quarantine when they return. From November 14 quarantine will be reduced to seven days followed by home isolation for three days.
In 2019, nearly 1.5m visitors to Australia were from New Zealand, and spent $1.6b, making it the country's second-largest source of tourists.
Dan Tehan, federal trade, tourism and investment minister, said the return of quarantine-free arrivals would be a major boost for the tourism industry.
He added that Tourism Australia will upscale its marketing activities in New Zealand, focusing on building confidence and broadening knowledge of Australia's tourism offering.
New Zealand travellers will need to declare they have had a negative pre-departure PCR test within three days of departure.
They will also need to provide evidence of full COVID-19 vaccination.
The government revealed that the Australian Passport Office had a surge of applications in the last month, with 102,000 people applying for passports compared to 82,000 applications in September and 53,000 in August.
Australians are also preparing for travel by ordering the new International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate. Over 700,000 have been generated since it was launched last month.
Quarantine-free travel to Australia is an important part of the road to recovery, said Tehan, and will encourage Australians to plan their next holiday.
