Cirruscessna:
This kind of 'fortress' rhetoric is old, dangerous and needs to start to be called out more often. It's this style of talk that is responsible for the predicament we are in now re vaccines and hesitancy. You'll find it in the comments of any news article/facebook post related to borders or aussie covid. Usually baby boomer and white (yes, importantant because you have little/no family overseas - o/s travel isn't just holidays). Just the small scare down in Vic has driver vaccine rates through the roof so the tides are changing. From personal experience, everyone we know has done their token domestic holiday and is now dumping their savings in the offset for an o/s trip when borders open.
.....We who have actually been taught and practiced business strategy know that
the smartest and safest way to deal with potential change is to engage with it. The dumbest, stupidest, response to potential change is to put your fingers in your ears and scream "make it go away!". Yet that is what I see so many doing right here.....
It is obvious that for now the days of mass international travel are finished, at least for the time being, until we can solve the problem of preventing infection of our populations with Covid 19. The main vector for Covid 19 as far as Australia is concerned is international air travel. That means
you and your employer. In equity fairness and natural justice, that means your career and profitability, despite what Virgins CEO may believe, are of no account at all compared to the life of an octogenarian in a nursing home. Zip, nada, nothing. YOU are the problem.
Instead of whining about boomers and white males and pining for the past, you might like to contribute to solutions based on a few general observations...
- The days of hubbing through places like Dubai where you can rub shoulders for a few hours with the creme de la creme of Africa, the Middle East and Asia on your way to Europe are gone until you and your fellow travellers possess ironclad protection against Covid.
- The days of using an A380 are similarly numbered for the above reason.
- At present, there is no travel insurance available that covers Covid, let alone excess hospital capacity for non citizens in the rest of the world.
- While health passports will need to be reinstated, their integrity is currently problematic.
- Present solutions in place in Europe and the USA do not necessarily translate to Australia since their risk profiles are different thanks to land borders,, etc.
-Solutions we might adopt may be too expensive or inappropriate for developing countries.
You might like to think about the above instead of just screaming "make it go away!"