Overseas travel guide: Destinations you should and shouldn’t consider for the Christmas holidays
What does the detection of a dangerous new Covid variant mean for Aussies hoping to head overseas for holidays? We list places still relatively safe, and simple, to travel.
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Is overseas travel on your Christmas wish list? We’ve done the hard work for you and come up with a list of five potential holiday destinations, and the five countries you should probably avoid this festive season.
While you may not be wise to hit the slopes in Austria, the good news is you can still enjoy a white Christmas in some corners of the globe, if your bank budget allows.
Some tropical destinations also get the green light.
Keep in mind that travel has changed in a post-pandemic world, so going on a holiday won’t be as simple as it used to be. And the arrival of a dangerous new Covid variant, Omicron, is changing travel and quarantine rules, and shutting borders to some, as we speak.
At the very least, you will have to be fully vaccinated to travel overseas and most destinations require travellers to return a negative Covid test upon their arrival.
Some destinations are enforcing isolation or quarantine requirements, while others are mandating travellers have extensive travel insurance.
TOP FIVE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS:
SINGAPORE
Singapore should be at the top of your list when it comes to choosing an overseas holiday destination this Christmas. It has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with more than 10 million vaccine doses administered, and Australians won’t have to undergo a 14 day quarantine if they enter through the Vaccinated Travel Lane as a short term visitor.
However, fully vaccinated travellers will still need to return a negative test result upon their arrival in Singapore and remain in isolation until their result is received.
Qantas is flying direct to Singapore with return flights starting at around $1000 during the festive season.
Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) has announced that border measures will tighten given the deteriorating situation in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe because of Omicron.
New restrictions are being put in place for travellers entering Singapore from these nations.
UNITED KINGDOM
With Qantas flying direct from Darwin to London, it would be a no-brainer to book a flight to the United Kingdom for a white Christmas.
Fully vaccinated Australians no longer have to undergo any form of quarantine or complete a Covid test when they arrive in the UK. There are currently no restrictions in England and the chance of another lockdown remains unlikely, so Australians will be able to enjoy all the Christmas festivities on offer.
Booking a return flight to London with Qantas will set Aussies back more than $2000 around Christmas time, with some return flights costing up to $4200.
However, the UK has reimposed tight rules on mask-wearing and testing of international arrivals after confirming the first cases of the new Covid strain.
British PM Boris Johnson said anyone arriving in England will be asked to take a a mandatory PCR test for COVID-19 on the second day after their arrival and must self isolate until they provide a negative test.
UNITED STATES
Fully vaccinated Australians are not required to undergo quarantine in the USA, meaning they will have plenty of time to marvel at a white Christmas in New York or soak up the sunshine in Los Angeles.
All travellers aged two or over must return a negative test result within three days of travel.
Return flights from Melbourne to Los Angeles start at around $1700.
US officials have said foreigners would be blocked from travelling from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, because of Omicron.
FIJI
Fiji waived traditional quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated Australians on November 11 and started tourist flights on December 1, paving the way for Aussies to holiday in the tropical paradise this Christmas.
Travellers must return a negative Covid test within 72 hours of their arrival.
They will also have to spend their first 48 hours in Fiji at their hotel or resort, after which they must produce a negative rapid antigen test.
But tourists won’t be locked in their hotel rooms – they can use all resort amenities, including the pool, restaurant, bar and other activities.
The first two days will still feel like a holiday, and after that rapid antigen test Aussies can explore everything else Fiji has to offer.
Travellers should keep in mind they won’t be able to visit all 333 of Fiji’s islands, with some enforcing a mandatory seven day quarantine and others out-of-bounds due to low vaccination rates.
They will also need Covid travel insurance.
THAILAND
Fully-vaccinated Australian travellers flying into Thailand won’t need to undergo mandatory quarantine this Christmas, but there are a few other things travellers will need to keep in mind when preparing for their trip.
Australians will need to apply for a Thailand Pass and must have valid health insurance with a minimum cover of $50,000 (US).
Travellers will also need to test negative to Covid-19 prior to departing Australia and again upon arrival in Thailand.
They will need to self-isolate in approved accommodation until their test results come through, which should be for no longer than one day.
After that, Aussies are free to kick back by the pool and enjoy all Thailand has to offer, but keep in mind some restrictions and density limits are still in place.
Return flights to Thailand are more expensive than usual this holiday period, with return flights ranging from $1000 to $7000 depending on your travel dates and destination within Thailand.
Thailand has banned the entry of people travelling from eight African countries it designated as high-risk for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Starting in December, travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, will be prohibited.
FIVE HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS TO CROSS OFF YOUR CHRISTMAS WISH LIST:
AUSTRIA & GERMANY
Austria reimposed a nationwide lockdown on November 22 amid surging Covid cases, with recent numbers reaching as high as around 15,000 cases per day.
While the lockdown is expected to lift in December, Austria still has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe, meaning there is potential for sudden lockdowns.
Other European countries, including Portugal, have reintroduced lockdown measures in the lead up to the holiday season, while Germany has imposed restrictions in high risk areas and cancelled Christmas markets across the country after recording more than 50,000 cases per day.
Annual Christmas markets in Bavaria and Saxony, including the iconic market in Munich and Dresden’s famous Striezelmarkt, have been called off for the rest of the festive season.
The prospect of ongoing lockdowns and cancelled Christmas activities means Aussies can cross these European destinations of their wish lists.
VIETNAM
Government website Smart Traveller has advised Australians to “reconsider” their need to travel to Vietnam due to the impacts of Covid-19, with the country recording thousands of Covid cases daily.
Arriving travellers will be forced to undergo a strict quarantine while local Covid restrictions could change suddenly, with fines issued to anyone who breaches the rules.
Strict treatment and quarantine measures also apply to anyone who contracts Covid and their close contacts, which includes a mandatory centralised treatment in a quarantine facility.
While Vietnam is a popular holiday destination among Aussies, travellers will have to wait until next year for quarantine-free travel.
NEW CALEDONIA
While New Caledonia has consistently been recording less than 100 Covid cases per day for the last month, with less than ten new cases on some days, the popular holiday destination can be subject to lockdowns and curfews at short notice.
Its borders are set to remain closed until at least the end of December, ruling it out as a Christmas getaway.
The holiday spot is only a few hours from Australia by plane, but the New Caledonia Travel website has strongly advised travellers to wait for borders to officially reopen before booking a flight, which could be as early as the New Year.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand may be one of Australia’s closest neighbours, but you can cross this destination off your holiday wish list.
Despite Australia and New Zealand previously having a travel bubble, travellers will have to wait until January to make the quarantine-free trip across the pond.
Even then, Aussies will have to undergo a seven day isolation period and return a negative Covid test to enter the country.
For now, New Zealand’s borders remain closed to Aussie holiday makers.
JAPAN
With its borders closed to tourists indefinitely, travellers won’t be able to hit the slopes in Japan this winter.
But after the Australian Government announced quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated Japanese citizens, there is hope Aussie travellers will be granted the same freedoms when Japan’s borders finally reopen to tourists.
Japan is currently enforcing a ten day mandatory quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers with a valid permit.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
Australia is set to follow countries around the world that are scrambling to restrict entry from southern Africa, in the wake of the new coronavirus variant which has been labelled the worst yet.
Nations have rushed to ban flights from the region after the World Health Organisation on Friday declared the B.1.1.529 strain discovered recently in South Africa ”a variant of concern” and renamed it Omicron.
The move puts it up there with the globally-dominant Delta variant and its predecessors Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants.
Australia does not at present have any direct flights from southern Africa but is expected to announce changes to rules for travellers who have been in Southern Africa as a precautionary measure.
The UK’s chief medical adviser to its Health and Security Agency has described the Omicron variant as the “most worrying we’ve seen”, with higher transmission levels previously seen.
At the moment, southern Africa is a place to steer well clear of!
Originally published as Overseas travel guide: Destinations you should and shouldn’t consider for the Christmas holidays
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