Australia is to start allowing fully vaccinated international tourists to enter the country again on Monday (21 February), after a gap of nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Figures from travel technology supplier Travelport showed international flight bookings to Australia rose by 93% in the week after the Australian government announced its plan to reopen the border.

UK-based travellers have made the highest number of bookings to the destination, ahead of India and Nepal, with February being the most popular departure month – showing how keen people are to travel down under again.

Travelport added that the top-three Australian destinations were Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Travellers to Australia are also looking to stay longer than pre-Covid, with the average length of an international trip increasing to 32 days in 2022 – 10 days longer than the average of 22 days in 2019.

The majority of passengers (75%) will be travelling to Australia for leisure, while 35% are solo travellers, which Travelport said was likely to be due to the large numbers of Australian expats returning home without the need to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks.