Rapturous welcome for tourists as last barriers to travel ease
Australia’s first international tourists in two years have been given a rapturous welcome at airports as the last barriers to travel came down.
Australia’s first international tourists in almost two years have been given a rapturous welcome by wellwishers who brandished everything from sunscreen to jars of vegemite, as the last barriers to travel finally came down.
On day one of the border reopening, close to 10,000 passengers landed in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Dubai and Doha.
Sydney scored the lion’s share with about 5000 arrivals on 26 flights, while more than 3000 people touched down in Melbourne and 1600 in Brisbane.
A band of drag queens and the Qantas kangaroo added a big splash of colour to Sydney Airport’s arrivals hall, where volunteers doled out free flat whites and orange juice.
Parisian travellers Adele Maciejewski and Sandra Haas said they were overwhelmed to be in Australia, after disembarking a Qantas flight from LA.
“We’ve been wanting to come to Sydney for years, and we are finally here,” said Ms Maciejewski. “We have no plans. We’ll just see where the city takes us.”
Michelle Perks and Ben Davis, who live in Vietnam with their two children Poppy, eight months, and Sidney, 4, shed tears as they were reunited with family.
“My father-in-law surprised us at the airport,” Ms Perks said.
“It meant that he could meet his granddaughter for the first time, which was really special.”
Noosa-bound Dutch visitor Chantal Ebinger thought she had won a raffle when she emerged from customs at Brisbane Airport, to a mound of toy kookaburras and surf lifesavers dispensing gift bags. “What is this, have I won a prize?” she said excitedly before airport staff filled her in on the significance of the day.
In Melbourne, two of the city’s top chefs joined families waiting to welcome loved ones, getting the jump on rivals in the race to again fill restaurants.
Frank Camorra of MoVida and Shane Delia of Maha extended a personal invitation to arriving visitors to dine at their respective restaurants, with some arrivals scoring food vouchers.
Behind their face masks, airport chiefs were beaming at the activity after more than 700-days of border closures that reduced flights and passengers to a fraction of pre-Covid levels.
Sydney Airport released January passenger figures showing international arrivals still at just 16 per cent of 2019 numbers, but chief executive Geoff Culbert was confident the miserable statistics were just about behind them.
“It will be a slow build, but a number of our international airline partners will bring on more capacity in March and we are working closely with state and federal governments and their tourism agencies,” he said.
Throughout the pandemic, Brisbane Airport saw two-thirds of airlines abandon the city, with only 12 carriers continuing to operate to 11 destinations, compared to 29 airlines servicing 34 destinations pre-Covid.
Brisbane Airport chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff predicted it would take three years to return to 2019 levels, adding they were “ready to go”. “Two things are really important, and that’s big markets like New Zealand, China, Japan and Indonesia welcoming Australians once again,” he said.
“Second, visa application processes for passengers if they want to visit Australia should be as seamless and as easy as possible.”
Steve Davis, left, greets son Ben, daughter-in-law Michelle Perks and his grandchildren Sidney, 4, and Poppy, eight months, at Sydney Airport
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