Australia is due to reopen its borders to overseas tourists tomorrow for the first time in two years.
Fully vaccinated tourists and business travellers are allowed enter the country from February 21st, after a gradual and phased reopening in recent months.
Up until now, there had been strict limits on who could enter the country - with strict quarantine measures for Australians only eased late last year.
Tourists from only a small number of countries - such as New Zealand, Japan and South Korea - had been allowed enter the country in recent months.
Immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents have also been able to travel to the country from November.
However, that's now being extended to all vaccinated visa holders - with all Irish and EU citizens eligible for a free three-month visitor visa.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said more than 50 international flights were due to arrive in Australia on Monday.
Speaking to reporters at Melbourne Airport today, he said: "It's great to be at the Melbourne International Airport, because this place is about to get busy and international airports all around the country.
"The wait is over. There's more than 1.2 million people around the world who are visaed up and they can come.
"I'm excited to know that we're going from COVID cautious to COVID confident when it comes to travel."
Tourists who are not vaccinated will still require a specific travel exemption to enter the country.
It comes as Western Australia announced plans to also reopen to tourists from early next month.
The state had stuck with a 'hard border' policy to deal with COVID even as other parts of the country began their phased reopening last year.
However, officials in Western Australia have now confirmed they'll reopen internal borders from March 3rd for all triple-vaccinated people.
International tourists will also be allowed enter the state, although they will need to do a rapid antigen test within 12 hours of arrival.
Premier Mark McGowan this week acknowledged the state's hard border had become "ineffective" amid a surge in Omicron cases, although said their cautious approach to date means it's "now far safer" to relax the travel rules.
While Australia has traditionally had some of the world's strictest travel rules, some other countries are still maintaining strict border controls for now.
New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and a number of other countries remain closed to tourists, with the likes of Japan having reimposed stricter rules during the Omicron wave.
