People rushing to head overseas

AUSTRALIANS are voting with their passports – and the message, via a flurry of overseas holiday bookings, is “Get us out of Auscatraz!”. Such is the demand for travel, most cruises due to leave Australian ports in 2022 are already booked out. Norwegian cruise company Hurtigruten’s managing director Asia Pacific Damian Perry says cruises to cold destinations such as Antarctica, Iceland and Alaska are growing in popularity. “We noticed an uptick once a road map was delivered from the government, yet there has always been the insecurity around state borders and return to Australia that held some travellers off,” Mr Perry (pictured) says. “An outcome of the Covid disruptions is that travellers value time more than ever, and those bucket list destinations that people may have considered are now on top of the list.

“Now that we have a clear path, borders opening and a commitment to the Australian public that we will catch up with the rest of the world, we are seeing our busiest days and expect the next three to six months to continue to grow.” It is a similar scene in the air, despite calls from the aviation industry and travellers for greater clarity on how a return to international travel will work.

Air travel bookings have soared as Aussies dust off their passports and book flights for later in the year, while crossing their fingers that they will be able to get back home. “Following the Prime Minister’s announcement last week, we saw that demand immediately translate to searches and bookings,” Webjet chief David Galt says. Tourism operators have also seen an uptick in bookings, but say as the country takes its first cautious steps towards opening up to the world, domestic travel will remain a “strong interest”.