However, there are 22 passports ahead of Australia, including South Korea, Sweden, France, Italy, Poland and Japan.
It got us thinking about the countries that are the most difficult, or near impossible for Aussies to visit as a tourist. The question is, though, would you want to go? Here are some examples.
ERITREA
Located in the Horn of Africa and sharing its borders with Sudan, Ethopia and Djibouti, Eritrea isn’t exactly in the top ten destination for Aussie travellers
NAURU
The once rich island and world’s smallest country has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years as one of the places hosting a detention centre for the Australian Government’s controversial refugee policy.
NORTH KOREA
While Australian passport holders can most certainly visit North Korea, Smartraveller warns against going. Its current advice is to “reconsider your need to travel to the DPRK due to restrictions placed on foreigners and very different laws and regulations applying to behaviour, as well as intermittent DPRK threats against international interests.”
Also, there’s the ever-present danger that “foreign visitors have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention”.
If that still doesn’t deter you, travel to North Korea is mainly via Beijing, China, which is the most likely place to obtain your visa since there’s no embassy or consulate in Australia.
TURKMENISTAN
The only way you’ll get into this dictator-led country in Central Asia is with a letter of invitation and an approved guide. Turkmenistan ranks third last in the world for journalistic freedom, just ahead of Eritrea and North Korea.
SAUDI ARABIA
Unless you have business being there, it’s going to be difficult to get in. And by business, we mean it literally. Without a business visa, non-Muslims may find it near-impossible to pay the oil-rich kingdom a visit.
