Eager to explore a brave new world

Fiji might be on the radar for Australians at Christmas.

With an announcement imminent on Australia’s international borders reopening, hopes are high that after almost 20 months of being stuck “at home”, we might be able to celebrate Christmas in foreign climes. Just imagine: reuniting with family in Auckland; skiing the slopes of Aspen; sipping cocktails by the pool in Fiji.

Australians are undoubtedly champing at the bit.

Qantas saw a 175 per cent spike in web searches when it announced it would restart inter­national services on December 18.

Online booking agency Expedia reports searches for this summer increased by 50 per cent in the first three weeks of September, with Bali and London the top two picks. Skyscanner cites London, Tokyo and Dublin as the top three destinations for the festive season, while Fiji is dominating at Flight Centre, which had a 40 per cent increase in reservations for the ­island holiday hub last week.

“We’re anticipating Fiji holidays to become really popular once Australia’s border opens as it is by far the destination we’re receiving the most enquiries about,” said James Kavanagh, Flight Centre Travel Group Australia managing director.

There is cause for caution, however. The return to overseas travel will not be a return to those carefree, pre-Covid days when you could snap up a cheap fare one day and be at the departure gate the next. This is a vastly different – and highly changeable – travel landscape, and we have yet to learn the devil in the detail.

A Digital Passport Declaration of vaccination status is in the works, and NSW and South Australia’s push to start trialling home quarantine will make overseas travel a more palatable prospect.

But there are many other issues to consider. While some countries (Britain and the US are two) do not insist visitors be double-­vaccinated, many airlines and cruise lines do. Singapore, currently not allowing short-term visits by Australians, requires travellers to have insurance with Covid cover of at least $30,000.

Britain has mandatory PCR tests as a prerequisite for entry to the country but if you arrive via Italy, for instance, booking a swab can be difficult and could set you back a hefty £350 ($650).

A Briton who recently travelled to Istanbul said his return to London required four pieces of documentation: a negative PCR test result from the day before, evidence he’d booked a National Health Service test kit for use two days after his return, proof of ­double vaccination and a pass­enger locator form for contact tracing.

Just like snap lockdowns in Australia, rules overseas can change at the drop of hat. Only last week, the Dutch government relented on a 10-day quarantine stipulation for travellers from at-risk countries, including Britain and the US, that had been announced without warning two weeks earlier.

Fiona Dalton, acting general manager of high-end travel advisory Virtuoso, said the pandemic had highlighted the value of having an experienced agent to ­handle bookings, documentation and itineraries in the everchanging Covid age.

“We’re seeing the polarisation of the market. There is a camp out there that believes they can do it themselves ... but we’re also seeing an increasing base of Australian travellers saying: ‘I recognise I can’t do this (independently).’ ”

She adds: “This is a new world for travellers and those challenges around the complexity of travel have increased but they haven’t overridden the desire.”

The “really big conversation” among Virtuoso’s advisers and customers centres on next year’s European summer. Ms Dalton urges Australians to think past lockdowns and start thinking and planning for Tuscany.

“It’s going to creep up on us very quickly.”