Australian borders unlikely to open to international tourists in 2020

Australia’s tourism minister has conceded that the country’s international borders are unlikely to open in 2020.

Simon Birmingham, minister for trade, tourism and investment, said on Wednesday that border closures have been crucial to Australia’s success in largely preventing the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s sadly very unlikely that our health crisis is likely to facilitate an opening to international travel this year,” he told the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

“I hope that we can see breakthroughs in vaccines and other approaches to management that might change that, but right now Australia’s world-leading success in managing COVID and suppressing it is significantly underpinned by the tight border restrictions that we have in place. And I suspect that they’ll stay there for some time yet.”

As of Wednesday afternoon there had been 7,370 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, up from 7,347 on Tuesday.

• Website on EU border reopenings has become available!
• Poland resumes EU passenger air service, COVID-19 cases top 30,000

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), international arrivals in Australia were down 99 percent in May compared to May 2019.

However, as domestic borders around the country begin to re-open Birmingham used a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday to urge Australians to do their “patriotic duty” by taking holidays in the country.