If you have been dreaming of escaping the cold to a European winter, good news: the EU is allowing visitors from only 15 countries to restart the tourism trade and Australia is on this rather exclusive list.

From today the 1st of July, non-essential travellers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea, Algeria, and Japan (among others) will be permitted to enter the EU due to their nation’s successful containment of the coronavirus outbreak and current low infection rate

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It’s important to note that your country of residence, not nationality (i.e. what’s on your passport), will be the determining factor in whether you’re allowed to visit.

The list of nations allowed to visit Europe for tourism will be revised every 14 days, with the full 15 as follows: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and China, provided that China reciprocates.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been devastating to the tourism business, not just in Europe, but across the world. In the EU, the industry accounts for 10 percent of the European economy, but it’s been on pause since March in a bid to contain the virus.

For the safest European summer destinations, places like Greece, Portugal, and Croatia all experienced relatively low cases of the illness, as did Poland, Georgia, and Austria.

But just because Europe will begin its reopening to foreigners doesn’t mean it’ll look how it did pre-COVID. Physical distancing measures will be put in place, as well as the wearing of face masks will be encouraged to limit the risk of a fresh spike.

It’s also worth noting that you will probably be required to self-quarantine upon your return to Australia, which in many states is now at your own expense.