international border

Australia's border reopens to international visitors

The country imposed some of the world's strictest travel bans after shutting itself off in March 2020 due to Covid.

Australians and some others were allowed to return from late last year, but most foreigners have had to wait.

There were tearful reunions at Sydney Airport on Monday as hundreds of people began arriving on flights.

One young girl, Charlotte, shared an emotional hug with her grandfather. She told the local Nine Network: "I've missed him so much and I've looked forward to this trip for so long."

Fiji can become billion dollar industry again, says tourism chief

Tourism Fiji has confirmed 75,000 bookings for hotels and resorts until the end of next month.

Hill said there had been a 'massive increase' in hits on the Tourism Fiji website since the Pacific island nation reopened to the world on 1 December.

This included the launch of the industry's 'Open for Happiness' campaign.

"These numbers reflect the marketing and publicity that Tourism Fiji and our industry are doing is having a really strong impact," Hill said.

Bula - welcome to Fiji

Welcome Home to Fiji which is 'Open For Happiness'. That is the message Tourism Fiji and its stakeholders are selling to holiday makers in its Travel Partner Countries.

There are four flights into Fiji, 2 from Sydney, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. A flight from Melbourne will arrive get in just after midnight and a large flight from Los Angeles early on December 2.

Despite fears the new Covid-19 variant Omicron has spread into the community in New South Wales where the first flight of tourists come from, Fiji said it is ready to receive visitors.