Growing calls to allow double vaccinated overseas arrivals to South Australia
The pent-up demand for travel to restart is huge – but South Australian rules are hobbling both family reunions and tourism.
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While Qantas and NSW open to the world, South Australia is hobbling the tourism industry by maintaining its 14-day quarantine policy for international arrivals regardless of vaccination status, tourism leaders warn.
Qantas is flying from Sydney to London on November 1 and reintroducing flights to Singapore, Fiji, Delhi, Bangkok, Phuket, Johannesburg and Los Angeles in coming months, and NSW is allowing fully vaccinated Australians to bypass hotel quarantine on return.
RAA Travel has reiterated calls for Qantas to schedule international flights from Adelaide but travel industry leader Phil Hoffmann says there is “no chance” of this occurring.
He called for the 14-day quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals to be dumped in favour of a test being given on arrival and home isolation until it proves negative.
Mr Hoffmann warned that failure to act may jeopardise the return of major airlines and urged support to ensure at least Qatar, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand fly to Adelaide, following the loss of carriers such as Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Malaysian Airlines.
He said there is huge pent-up demand for travel “but no-one wants to go overseas if it means going via Sydney then two weeks quarantine when they return to South Australia.”
“Demand is such that many people now want to book cruises for next year but we have to tell them there is no space and we may struggle to find what they want even for 2023 — the rest of the world has opened up and have already booked their holidays,” he said.
“Apart from tourists, no businessperson is going to go overseas if it means 14 days quarantine on return.”
RAA Travel general manager Gina Norman said there had been an avalanche of pre-Christmas bookings since news broke of the lifting of the ban on overseas travel for leisure, starting with the “visiting friends and relatives” category.
“People desperate to see new grandchildren or ageing parents overseas want to get out and are less worried about when they have to return or quarantine status – they just want to see loved ones,” she said.
“Holiday-makers are looking to go from January, and the one stumbling block is uncertainty over having to quarantine on return. As soon as they lift mandatory hotel quarantine and give some clarity about a test on entry or home isolation, people will book.”
An RAA Travel survey shows the top destinations for international travel hopes are Asia and the UK, then New Zealand, Pacific Islands, US and Canada — and more than 80 per cent of members are willing to use a vaccination certificate.
Adelaide Airport officials are in talks with airlines about international services including to Japan, but these hinge on airlines being confident flights will be full inbound as well as outbound – which in turn means lifting the mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine.
On Friday, Adelaide Airport celebrated the start of Adelaide-Hobart direct flights with a water cannon welcome for the Virgin Airlines aircraft.
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Originally published as Growing calls to allow double vaccinated overseas arrivals to South Australia
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