The days of jet-lagged travellers to Australia desperately searching for a pen to fill in an orange card are about to end.
In what’s been called a major win for the tourism industry, a new pilot program for a digital incoming passenger card was announced on Friday.
Tourism & Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said replacing the outdated paper cards with a digital Australia Travel Declaration was a fantastic first step towards more efficient travel across the Tasman.
“Finally, passengers landing in Australia won’t have to fill out a paper arrival card with a pen. The paper cards are a relic of the past and we can do much better in the digital age,” Ms Osmond said.
“These reforms will improve the airport experience for travellers when they arrive, whilst prioritising border security, through a more modern, efficient process, which we’ve long been advocating for.”
The pilot program will initially be for Qantas passengers arriving from New Zealand, stating later this year;
But Ms Osmond said it was expected to be expanded to other airlines.
The pilot is the initiative of the Trans-Tasman Seamless Travel Group, which was established last year to deliver on the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers’ commitment to explore ways to move closer to seamless travel between the two countries.
The pilot program was announced after NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Anthony Albanese met in Canberra for their annual leaders’ meeting.
“We discussed the report on advancing seamless travel, which again lays the connection for our people-to-people connections and obviously our economic ties.
“Today’s announcement is a culmination of TTF’s persistent advocacy efforts on behalf of industry and the impressive resolve of government agencies on both sides of the ditch to implement critical border reforms,” she said.
“The Trans-Tasman Seamless Travel Group will continue to meet to discuss further initiatives to enhance the passenger experience for Trans-Tasman travellers, taking advantage of technology to make travel quicker and easier and attract more visitors to our shores.”
“We remain strongly committed to working with our New Zealand partners and advocating for further reforms towards seamless travel, to revolutionise the passenger experience for the benefit of the entire industry.”