New Zealand has announced plans to bring forward its border reopening to next month.
The South Pacific country has been effectively closed to the outside world for the past two years as it enforced strict Covid-related border policies.
The news, announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday, will mean from April 13, Australians can enter without the need to quarantine.
Fully vaccinated travellers from a list of about 30 visa waiver countries, including the UK and US, will be able to enter New Zealand from May 1 provided they show a negative Covid test. Tourists from non-waiver countries - including India and China - will need to wait longer, unless they already have valid visitor visas.
Tourists must be vaccinated and test negative for the virus before leaving their home country and again after arriving in New Zealand.
At present, only New Zealand nationals can leave and enter the country, but Ms Ardern said New Zealand was “ready to welcome the world back”.
“We have now received guidance that it is safe to significantly bring forward the next stage of border reopening work, bringing back our tourists,” she said on Wednesday.
With the omicron variant now spreading throughout the country, the border restrictions have become largely irrelevant.
Ms Ardern said the move would boost the economy.
"Closing our border was one of the first actions we took to stop Covid-19 over two years ago, and its reopening will spur our economic recovery throughout the remainder of the year," she said.
"I know from visiting tourism operators, and talking to their staff, how tough these past two years have been," Ms Ardern said. "And not only because of the massive loss of tourism revenue, but because we lost something we derived so much of our identity from."
Over the past couple of weeks, New Zealand has been reporting about 20,000 new virus cases each day, its biggest outbreak since the pandemic began.
