We’ve already commenced a so-far successful travel bubble with New Zealand, and another is confirmed to be in the works with Singapore.
But there’s potential for a third travel bubble with The Islands of Tahiti, and in fact, the tropical paradise has just announced it’s now happy to welcome Australian travellers.
On June 9, The Islands of Tahiti changed its Entry and Stay Conditions to allow vaccinated travellers from the ‘green zone’, which includes Australia.
Now, Australian travellers who have had their COVID-19 vaccines will be allowed into French Polynesia without the need to quarantine on the other side.
At the time of writing, green-zone countries include those that have “no active circulation of the virus”, and “no worrying variants identified”. These include the European area, Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, and Singapore.
In order to qualify for entry to Tahiti, you’ll need to present proof that a Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca has been administered in full at least 14 days prior to arrival.
And, in addition to the new rules, Tahiti also announced it had obtained the international certification ‘Safe Travels by WTTC’, which is the world’s first global health and safety label for travel and tourism, designed specifically to deal with COVID-19 and other similar health situations.
It’s a really exciting development, and with this news, Tahiti joins a growing list of countries happy to welcome Australian travellers; the US, UK, Europe, and the Maldives have already said they would allow us in.
But the new border rules don’t apply both ways, and Australia still has a ban on all overseas travel in place. People are only allowed to leave if they’re travelling to New Zealand or if an exemption has been granted.
The jury is out on whether a holiday to Tahiti is a good enough reason to be granted an exemption at this point, but likely anyone who does leave Australia to go anywhere other than New Zealand would still have to quarantine for 14 days at their own expense once touching back down at home.
So, not quite a reason to book a flight just yet, but The Islands of Tahiti is hopeful that the new rules will increase its chances of becoming a candidate for a travel bubble for Australians.
Your move, ScoMo.
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