Currently, talks include a potential travel bubble with New Zealand and pacific islands like Fiji as well, however nothing has been confirmed as of yet. It’s also worth noting that while travel bubbles have been discussed in the past, New Zealand came to halt these following another outbreak of the coronavirus.
In an interview on Today, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Dan Tehan, said that he would be involved in discussions with his Singaporean counterparts over the coming months to determine whether such plans are feasible. While he said he was optimistic that such plans would proceed forward, he added: “What we need to do is get people moving again [and with] the confidence to travel.”
For Tehan, the only reasonable way to do this is to have various nations agree on a digital coronavirus vaccination travel passport. However even then, it’s unsure how such a document would be deployed or how it would be managed at international borders. “That will enable that two-way travel to occur, hopefully without quarantining down the track,” said Tehan.
With the vaccine still being rolled out in Australia, it’s unlikely that we will see everyone vaccinated by July, meaning such a plan might be more beneficial to those looking to return home as opposed to those wanting to travel internationally. Nevertheless, the prospect of packing our bags and hopping on a flight again is hopeful.
