A survey of 1500 Australians commissioned by Medibank Travel found the majority of respondents said they miss travel (71 per cent) – particularly in one state.Victorians, which endured the longest lockdown in the world, yearned for an escape the most (75 per cent), followed by New South Wales residents (73 per cent) and Queenslanders (70 per cent). South Australians (66 per cent), West Australians (62 per cent) and Tasmanians (62 per cent) rounded up the bottom three.But, as the Delta strain continues to challenge governments around the world, many Australians believe the unvaxxed should be banned from travel.Got a trip booked to Fiji? Join our Facebook Live Chat with Escape.com.au’s Rowena Ryan, Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill and Ignite Travel Group’s Rod Carrington from 12.30pm AEDT today. It will be streamed above as well. Safety is front of mind with the large majority of respondents saying they believe only fully vaccinated people should be allowed to fly interstate (76 per cent). Similarly, most respondents said only fully vaccinated people should be allowed to drive across state borders (72 per cent).Asked about their holiday plans for the next 12 months, just over half of Australians said they plan to do a driving holiday rather than board a flight overseas (54 per cent). Of these, most are aged 25 to 34 (61 per cent).Australia’s soaring vaccination rates have supercharged the return of travel.Qantas flights from Sydney to Los Angeles and London are due to take off on November 1, with Singapore legs due to start on November 23.Direct flights to Delhi and Fiji are also planned in December, while people will also be able to fly to Japan and Canada.Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill said resorts are reporting solid booking with the Radisson Blu in Denarau more than 50 per cent sold for December 1 – the day of the first flight of arrivals.“Bookings are still flooding in, especially now that Victoria has opened up quarantine free,” he said.However, the cost of Covid testing requirements before departure, on arrival and return are top of Australians’ concerns.“The greatest concern is around testing requirements – they’re hoping that Australia drops the PCR test requirement to leave and re-enter Australia, and change this to cheaper, quicker rapid tests,” he said.“They also want to know best time to go, best deals available and best places to go, and which airline to go with – best route in and out of Australia.”
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