Tourism Australia storms Indian market

Encouraged by a 19 per cent growth in Indian visitor arrivals totalling 220,000 in the July 2014 to June 2015 period, Tourism Australia marked their initiative in the Indian outbound leisure and MICE travel market with a 50-strong supplier contingent who interfaced with 90 high performing Indian tour operators, between August 27-30 in Bangalore. State tourism bodies from Destination New South Wales, Tourism Victoria, Tourism & Events Queensland and South Australian Tourism Commission pitched in with their full support to woo a burgeoning market, whose growth could be spectacular if more direct flight connectivity was added between the two countries. Currently, only Air India flies thrice weekly directly, to Melbourne and Sydney, from New Delhi.

Key objective of Tourism Australia’s, India Travel Mission 2015, held for the 13th consecutive year, were to:

a) Continue the growth momentum, and ensure sustained growth in tourist arrivals from India
b) Strengthen the tourism ties between Australia and India, and develop a strong bond with the best in business
c) Increase destination visibility and enhance the image of Australia in India

India is currently Australia’s 8th largest inbound tourism market registering a growth of 24 per cent in 1H 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. In the last fiscal year ended March 2015, Indian tourists contributed Australian Dollars 960 million to the Australian economy, an increase of 35 per cent over the previous fiscal year. The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) is estimating 205,000 visitors from India for 2015-16, a 7.7 per cent increase over 2014-15. Arrivals from India are expected to perform well with an average annual financial year growth rate of 7.2 per cent through to the financial year 2021-22.

14 per cent of the visitors travelled for business and MICE events while 66 per cent travelled for leisure. Incentive group travel from India has increased substantially, mainly to Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast, with gastronomy, wine and soft adventure being major attractions.

Nishant Kashikar, country manager – India, Tourism Australia said, “It is encouraging to see Indian visitors have the highest levels of intention to visit Australia and this is also reflected in the consistent growth in visitor arrivals to Australia. We will work towards amplifying the strengths that consumers identify with Australia and prioritise our future marketing activities and spending accordingly.”

sourced:traveldailynews.asia