Which Countries Are Reopening Their Borders?

‘When can I travel internationally again?’ That’s the question on everyone's minds, and we reckon this would be a little further down the line, so don’t just jump the gun and book in your leave just yet, as the overseas travel bans imposed by the government are still in effect. The best place to stay up to date on this is at smartraveller.gov.au, but here’s a quick snapshot on countries that are slowly reopening their borders and inviting travellers in: 

NZ is perhaps the most promising destination with lots of talk around the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble to support tourism on both sides of the Tasman, with the possibility of as early as July 1st being the date that Aussies could start travelling to NZ,and allow passengers to travel between the two nations without a 14-day quarantine period on either side.

Fiji is keen to join Australia and New Zealand in the ‘trans-Tasman travel bubble’, as 41% of its tourists come from Australia and 23% from New Zealand. Fiji is also developing a bluetooth-based contact tracing application, based on the COVIDSafe app designed for the Australian government.

Iceland has announced that they will be reopening borders on June 15, and the 14-day quarantine will be lifted and no longer enforced for passengers arriving at Keflavik Airport. All arrivals will be prompted to download the newly introduced tracing app to allow the tracing of any community transmissions.

There is no official date that has been announced by the Indonesian or Bali governments. The secretary of ministry indicated that it could possibly range between June and October.

Singapore's COVID-19 restrictions do not allow transit or short-term entry until further notice. 

Japan has lifted its nationwide state of emergency and the lockdown has gradually lifted in 42 of Japan's 47 regions, but Aussies are still not allowed to visit.

At this point of time all foreign nationals are not allowed to enter South Korea.

No international flights are allowed to land in Thai airports until June 30, however the country is considering allowing travel between its neighbouring countries- China and South Korea. As businesses slowly reopen, they have implemented strict health and hygiene measures at shopping centres.

Greece has managed to keep its case numbers down by enforcing a strict lockdown early on, and is now planning to welcome travellers again from June 15.

The tourism ministry has announced that only visitors from 29 countries would be allowed to enter from June 15 (yes, that includes Australia and New Zealand!), with other nations gradually added to the list from July 1.

The Italian government will lift quarantine restrictions and reopen its borders from June 3 after a lengthy coronavirus lockdown, but only to its European neighbors.  It hopes to revive the country’s tourism industry, which contributes some 13 percent of gross domestic product.