Australia and New Zealand to launch travel bubble from April 19

It’s hoped that the travel bubble will contribute to the economic recovery of Australia and New Zealand and could help other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to make a similar move.

New Zealand.- From 19 April, Australian and New Zealand residents will be allowed to travel between the two countries with no quarantine restrictions.

The travel bubble comes after months of negotiations and will end the current one-way deal that’s allowed New Zealanders to enter some Australian states while a mandatory 14-day quarantine remained for anyone travelling from Australia to New Zealand.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the travel bubble represented “a world-leading arrangement of safely opening up international travel while continuing to pursue a strategy of elimination and keeping the virus out.”

The news is hopeful for New Zealand’s tourism industry, which reported virtually zero tourists in 2020 amid countermeasures and lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19.

As regards the gambling sector, SkyCity’s Auckland casino announced it is operating without Covid-19 restrictions after the city moved from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1.

Asia-Pacific travel bubbles

Although this would be the first travel bubble in Asia-Pacific, Macau has started to allow entry of non-residents via mainland China provided they hold a visa from Chinese authorities.

There were also plans to launch a travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore but it was postponed after Hong Kong reported a rise in Covid-19 cases.