Travel news: Japan, Australia and Argentina reveal reopening plans

(CNN) — It was World Tourism Day on September 27 this week, but it’s safe to say it’s been another bad year for tourism globally. If you’re wondering where it’s safe to go and when, and what you need to do to get there, CNN Travel is on hand with these weekly round-ups.

Here’s what we learned in pandemic travel this week:

1. Norway lifted its domestic Covid restrictions — then was moved straight into the US ‘very high’ risk category

2. Japan is now a little easier to visit (if you’re fully jabbed and with an approved vaccine)

Travelers will have to show proof of getting the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines, as they are currently the only ones accepted in Japan. So it’s bad news for China’s Sinopharm and the United States’ Johnson & Johnson.

Eligible travelers will no longer have to endure a 14-day quarantine — instead, they can do 10. At the end of the 10-day period, they must take a PCR test. If that test comes back negative, the person is then able to move about freely.

3. Australia has revealed its plan to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated citizens

4. Argentina will also reopen to fully vaccinated international visitors on November 1

We’re now entering springtime in the southern hemisphere and so it will be a peak time to visit Argentina when it reopens to international tourism on November 1.

All foreign visitors will be welcome to make a quarantine-free visit, as long as they have received the approved vaccines at least two weeks beforehand and also present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before their arrival in the country.

5. Vietnam’s biggest city has relaxed its Covid restrictions

A health worker checks the temperature of a member of the public at a Covid-19 vaccination center in Ho Chi Minh City on August 5, 2021.

Maika Elan/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Vietnam has been in strict lockdown since early July, as a result of a Covid wave linked to the Delta variant which would lead to a record high of 804 deaths in one day on September 1.

6. A couple married on the US-Canadian border so the bride’s family could attend

Karen Mahoney and Brian Ray got married on the US-Canadian border so her family could witness it.

Courtesy Karen Mahoney

Some people want a church wedding, others want a beach service, but for newlyweds Karen Mahoney and Brian Ray, a US-Canada border crossing outside Burke, New York, was perfect.

Covid-19 restrictions had made it difficult for the Canadian bride to have her family at her US wedding, so this was the way for Mahoney’s parents and 96-year-old grandmother to be at the celebration.

7. A baby was born on a Turkish Airlines flight to the US

Turkish Airlines crew members with the baby they helped deliver.

Courtesy Turkish Airlines

The flight continued, as the mother and baby were in good health, a press spokesperson for Turkish Airlines said in a release.

8. A Middle Eastern airline was named the best in the world

Skytrax World Airline Awards are voted for by travelers via a customer survey, which this time ran from September 2019 to July 2021.

“It is clear that Qatar Airways has maintained its high standards of innovation and service standards, both in more normal times and through the current global pandemic,” said Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted in a statement on the results.

9. Parts of United Airlines’ vaccine mandate have been postponed under a temporary deal

nited Airlines pilot Steve Lindland receives a Covid-19 vaccine at O’Hare International Airport in March 2021.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

United Airlines’ vaccine mandate came into effect this week, but the airline is postponing full implementation while a legal challenge to the mandate progresses.

Under a temporary deal, employees who had their religious or medical accommodation requests rejected by the company will be allowed to remain active at the company until October 8, when the court has scheduled a hearing in the lawsuit.

United’s policy will still apply to employees who do not show proof of vaccination and didn’t apply for a religious or medical exemption.

10. UK road trips were tricky, due to a gasoline crisis

The UK’s week-long gasoline shortage, which has seen service stations closed and long lines at those that are open, is beginning to ease off although things have yet to return to normal.

CNN’s Chris Isidore, Lauren M. Johnson, Lilit Marcus, Duarte Mendonca, Henrik Pettersson, Charles Riley, Tierney Sneed, Francesca Street, Angus Watson and Ben Westcott contributed to this report.