[Epoch Times November 16, 2021](Epoch Times reporter Tian Rui, Sydney, Australia) At present, international travelers entering Australia need to pay up to 450 Australian dollars per person for testing fees, and the maximum testing fee for a family is 1800 Australian dollars. The tourism industry calls on the government to allow international travelers to use cheaper rapid antigen testing, so as to avoid expensive testing fees hitting the tourism industry’s recovery.
Although the Australian government provides free nucleic acid testing during the epidemic, international travelers, including Australian citizens, are not eligible for free testing. International passengers who have received two doses of vaccinations have to undergo at least one nucleic acid test before boarding, and after arriving in NSW or Victoria, they need to undergo at least two more tests.
The cost of a nucleic acid test is about 150 Australian dollars, the total cost of three tests for a single person is 450 Australian dollars, and the total cost of a family can reach up to 1800 Australian dollars. Although this is lower than the cost of staying in a hotel for two weeks, it is still not a small expense.
If travelers want to travel to a state like Queensland that has no cases of the disease, more testing is needed.
The head of the Tourism and Transportation Forum (Margy Osmond) said that if a family of four takes a Jetstar flight to Queensland for vacation, the cost of testing will exceed the airfare. She told the Australian Financial Review: “Rapid (antigen) testing is becoming more efficient and very reliable, so the government needs to be more flexible and adopt cheaper technologies in the market.”
Osman believes that nucleic acid testing should only be used as a temporary measure to help the recovery of international travel. Excessive costs will undermine people’s confidence in travel and curb the development of Australia’s tourism industry amid intensified competition in the global tourism market. ◇
Editor in charge: Zong Minqing
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