Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2022年6月 亞博匯 42 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND Australia and New Zealand were renowned for having some of the tightest COVID-19 restrictions in the world throughout the pandemic, with their borders not only closed to all international tourism but also to a large number of local citizens trying to return home from overseas. Melbourne, Australia’s second most populous city behind Sydney, even earned the moniker of being the most locked down city in the world – its citizens subjected to 262 days of COVER STORY restrictions across six separate lockdowns between March 2020 and October 2021. But the move to end restrictions was rapid. In November 2021, Australia began its road to recovery by allowing – for the first time in 18 months – fully-vaccinated Australian citizens and residents to travel internationally and quarantine at home upon their return. Then, in February 2022, it reopened borders to fully vaccinated tourists with the government declaring it needed to give certainty to the tourism industry. “In 2018-19, tourism generated more than AU$60 billion for the Australian economy, with more than 660,000 jobs dependent on the industry,” it said. New Zealand has been more circumspect, opening its borders to Australians only in April, then to nations subject to New Zealand’s visa- waiver program, including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and most of Europe, from 1 May. A full reopening to the rest of the world is expected to take place from 31 July. SkyCity Auckland