Travellers arriving at the international airport in Sydney on Monday were greeted by lifeguards, drag queens, and a DJ blasting local hits, as Australia reopened its borders to international visitors after nearly two years of shutting itself off from the rest of the world to try to keep the coronavirus at bay.

The country closed its international borders in March 2020 as part of its pandemic response, stranding citizens overseas and separating loved ones. Although the government gradually eased the harsh restrictions late last year — first loosening quarantine requirements for citizens, then allowing international students and some visa holders to return — tourists had remained banned and some residents continued to be cut off from friends and family.

Over 50 international flights were scheduled to land in Australia on Monday from countries including the US, Britain, Singapore, and the UAE. In Sydney, the first visitors arrived from Los Angeles just after 6am (local time), with travellers gifted koala stuffed toys and jars of Vegemite upon landing.

“It’s been a party out here at Sydney airport; everyone is celebrating,” Dan Tehan, the minister for tourism, said at a news conference at the airport on Monday morning. “It’s been quite extraordinary to see the way that people have been reunited — the hugs, the tears.”

Australia’s reopening comes as other countries in Asia also loosen restrictions even as the omicron wave continues to roil the region. Last week, Japan announced that it would ease its border restrictions to allow more international students and visa holders to enter the country starting in March.

And South Korea, which has recently been reporting more than 100,000 new cases a day, has started to ask people who test positive for the coronavirus to look after themselves at home, so the country can redirect resources to the most vulnerable.

Potential travellers and tourism operators alike are cautiously optimistic about the reopening of “Fortress Australia”, but many wonder if the isolated nation’s Covid restrictions will make the return of international travel more of a trickle than a splash.

(New York Times News Service)