Travel on the go is a dream for many, but the long visa process has become a roadblock for many.
Recently, Australian tourism organizations have proposed the introduction of a "life visa" in the hope that it will be convenient for foreign tourists who "go as far as they say". If it is true, then it will not be a dream for Chinese tourists to enter Australia without a visa!
According to reports, Australia's Tourism Export Council (ATEC) recommended that Australia provide "life visas" for approved ordinary travellers, and called on the government to provide budgetary funding for this purpose.
Prior to this, Australia's government has introduced multiple round-trip visas for 10 years, and only for Chinese tourists.
Peter Shelley, managing director of ATEC, praised government's multiple entry visa, but said it was time to "go a step further".
"many of our Asian neighbors, especially the rich Asian neighbors, have tourists who want to go away," he said.
"they may live in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and then suddenly want to come to Australia for a weekend."
The industry worries that a backlog of visas will prevent visitors from coming to Australia.
Shelley said the visa processing system needed to be simplified and expedited, especially for tourists from India and China.
"We don't want to hear from Indian travel agencies that they are not going to promote Australia because they have no confidence in getting a visa," he said.
The committee also called for an additional A $60 million to be allocated to the Australian Tourism Board to enhance the competitiveness of Australian tourism.
The group called for airport upgrades to include more facial recognition and intelligent boarding gates.
ATEC hopes that by 2030, government will have "passport-free" entry and a "zero resistance experience" for visitors.
"lifetime travel sign" is naturally a good thing for the vast number of Chinese tourists, but netizens only care about one thing: how expensive is it?
You know, it costs $1000 for multiple trips in 10 years, and $20, 000 for 10-year parents in Australia!
I don't know how expensive it is to sign this lifetime tour.
"Lifetime visas" and "visa-free" do sound tempting, only to hope that if the proposal really passes, the visa pricing will be reasonable, rather than being slapped by Australia's government.