Australia has been one of the most popular destinations amongst the Indian travellers. Tourism Australia has witnessed a 15.3 per cent growth from India market in 2016 with a total visitation of 275,000. As per the latest trend, Indian travellers are now looking for more offbeat destinations in Australia. The travellers are looking for more unique experiences and also travelling to remote or the unexplored path.
Speaking about the trend Jacquie Roberts, Senior Manager, International Partnerships, VisitCanberra said, “India market for Canberra has been an interesting journey. Canberra being the capital of Australia has always been popular for Indians. They come for a day trip from Sydney. But we are promoting a lot of activities as there are many more things to do than just a day trip. We recommend at least 2-3 nights. In September last year Singapore Airlines started flying directly to Canberra, this will boost Indian footfall. The most popular segment will be the family group and people who have come to Australia earlier. We are also looking at the self drive segment. Most attractions in Canberra are nearby. India has been in Canberra’s top 10 markets, but with the new flight India is in top five markets.”
New South Wales has been the most popular destination of the Indians, with Sydney enjoying the maximum footfall. Now Indians are exploring beyond Sydney and are also going for niche experiences.
Paramjit Bawa, Country Manager – India, Destination New South Wales said, “We promote New South Wales and this is one of the most important states. In terms of visitation and overnights we are at the top. Repeat travellers’ makeup a very significant percentage. First time travellers always come to Sydney, but repeat travellers will explore more of New South Wales such as Port Stevens or Jarvis Bay. We focus a lot of regional destination for repeat travellers and Sydney for first timers. After Sydney, Blue Mountains, Port Stevens, Hunter Valley are popular amongst Indians. We have a lot of experiential products for Indian travellers. We are seeing an increase in number of passengers and overnights in double figures. We would like to achieve at least 10-14 per cent in overnights in 2017.”
Queensland is one of the states where they have witnessed a significant growth from the India market. The destination is now promoting the upcoming Commonwealth Games which will be hosted by Gold Coast.
Ryna Sequeira, Marketing Manager, Tourism Queensland – India said, “The growth from India markets has been good. People are now going beyond the traditional destinations and looking at offbeat destinations. We closed at 57000 Indians till year end March 2017. We are looking at a 20 per cent growth this year. Indians experiment with luxury and are looking for many experiential tourism. Great Barrier Reef is extremely popular with this market. Next year’s focus is the Commonwealth Games as Gold Coast is the host. We have a lot of itineraries for the same. We are looking forward to welcome a lot of Indian travellers.”
In the last couple of years, South Australia Tourism has been aggressively promoting the destination in India market. The state is aiming to develop itself as a standalone destination and increase the overnight stay of Indian travellers.
Vinod Advani, Tourism Trade Ambassador, South Australia said, “South Australia is gaining popularity among Indian travellers. People are not restricted only to Adelaide and are now travelling to Kangaroo Island to experience the real and undisturbed wildlife. There is year-on-year increase in overnight stays and also in spend from the Indian travellers in South Australia. FITs and group tours as travel segments are contributing in big numbers for us. This is my 12th year at ITM and this has been the best platform for the Australian trade to interact with the quality buyers who travel from all parts for India to exchange business ideas and learn new things about Australia at the ITM.”
The latest entrants in the India market have been Northern Territory which has started promotions early this year. The destination is currently promoting Ayers Rock which is one of the popular attractions for Indians. Visit Northern Territory aims to promote the remote destinations and attractions once it’s established in this market.
Rachel from Tourism Northern Territory, “The tourism NT is home to Ayers rock and Alice Springs which are very popular. For the India market, Northern Territory is a new destination. So we are starting off by introducing the Red Centre as a lot of Indians are showing interest for Ayers Rock. India is still a very small market for us. We only started working with the trade and running campaign from this year. We want to tap aggressively into this market. In future we will get some more products from the outback and the mining towns. We are promoting for two to five night stays. In future we will promote the remote destinations. We have good connectivity to the Ayers Rock Airport from all the major cities. We have hotels and resorts for every budget.”
