New Border Update for Western Australia

australia | eTurboNews | eTN
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Written by Linda S. Hohnholz

As of 12:01 am on Saturday, February 5, 2022, Western Australian (WA) will reopen their borders to international visitors. As detailed in the Safe Transition Plan, WA will further ease its border controls in line with reaching a 90 percent double dose vaccination rate, expected in late January/early February.

As per current federal government guidelines, the following groups will be able to enter Western Australia quarantine free:

  • Double vaccinated Immediate family members including the parents of adult Australian citizens and permanent residents.
  • Double vaccinated working holidaymakers.

All visitors to WA will be required to return a negative PCR test result within 72 hours prior to departure, within 48 hours of arrival to WA, and on day 6. These are interim testing arrangements and are based on the current health advice and will be subject to an ongoing review.

The news comes following an announcement earlier this month where the WA government unveiled a new AU$185 million Reconnect WA package to safely re-engage with the world. The fund features a commitment to aviation re-establishing international and interstate flight routes that were disrupted by the pandemic, as well as targeting new routes.

UK agents and operators will also benefit with additional marketing investment introduced up to 2023, supporting the industry to learn about WA’s newest developments and secure bookings on those long-awaited trips to Western Australia. 

Multi-million-dollar boost to promote Western Australia as safe.

A $65 million aviation fund is a key feature of the strategy, which will go towards re-establishing international and interstate flight routes that were disrupted by the pandemic, as well as targeting new routes including Germany, India, China, and Vietnam. The fund includes $25 million from the existing Aviation Recovery Fund and $10 million for intrastate aviation to ensure tourists travelling to WA can experience our incredible regions. The State Government will partner with Perth Airport, who will also make a funding contribution to secure more flights.

The McGowan Government will also invest heavily in a new targeted $65 million marketing campaign to promote WA as safe and full of opportunity for tourists, skilled workers and international students. WA will utilize its successful record in safely managing the pandemic and a globally high vaccination rate as a drawcard for attracting people safely to the State.

New campaign to attract blockbuster international events.

New campaigns will be tailored to specifically address the skills shortage by attracting workers, such as health staff and secondary teachers, skilled workers for key industries, and backpackers for hospitality and agriculture. This comes on top of $80 million in existing destination marketing and destination activities already being delivered by Tourism WA in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Incentives will also be offered to tourists, international students and workers in order to successfully compete with other global jurisdictions. This will include expanding the successful Stay and Play campaign, which offers discounts for those who stay in participating hotels, as well as vouchers for tours and experiences. A student attraction scheme will be in place to help international students choose WA as their place to study, including up to $1,500 in accommodation support for the first 5,000 students.

This will be complemented by an immediate additional $9 million funding boost to attract blockbuster international events to Perth and WA. This extra funding is on top of the existing events budget of $77 million over 2021-22 and 2022-23 to attract and secure major events to our state, which has previously been successful in attracting European football giants Manchester United and Chelsea, and the UFC to WA.

The Reconnect WA package also includes $15 million to target the lucrative business events market to attract international conferences to Perth, an essential initiative to support CBD hotel occupancy as well as the hospitality industry.

More information on Australia.

#reopeningborders

About the author

Avatar of Linda S. Hohnholz

Linda S. Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz has been an editor for eTurboNews for many years. She is in charge of all premium content and press releases.

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