Tourism Australia has welcomed 367,000 travellers from India for the year ending May 2019 with a growth of 11 per cent over the previous. India is now the eight largest inbound markets in terms of arrivals for Australia. In May 2019, the destination has welcomed 40,600 travellers form in India with a 6.6 per cent growth which is the highest in any given months.
“India is one of the most important markets for us. We want to continue to grow in this market. Also we want to further connect the aviation and tourism relationship between both the nations. They year 2020 is very important for us as t coincides with the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, in conjunction with them we are trying to attract more visitors to Australia and we want travelers to go beyond the popular destinations in Australia,” Bob East, Chairman, Tourism Australia, said.
In 2020, Australia is set to host the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be a mega event to draw tourist footfall. The destination has appointed five Indian agencies for selling the match tickets.
Speaking about the plans, Sam Watson, General Manager-Government Relations & Host Cities, ICC T20 World Cup 2020 said, “We are very grateful that Tourism Australia is supporting us to attract more visitors. We want to build a significant attendance from India. It is the first time that we are hosting the T20 World Cup. We will have 68 matches played across 13 venues. Last time, during the Cricket World Cup, we welcomed around 100,000 fans from across the globe, this time we want more numbers. We have appointed 19 tour agents including five agents in India to sell tickets. In India, we have Bharat Army, Game World, Sport World, Fanatic, and Cutting Edge. The packages will be out soon.”
Australia recently organized the 17th edition of its annual trade event, Australia Marketplace India in Kochi. A delegation of 77 Australian Companies participated in the show with 20 new suppliers interacting with 95 Indian buyers.
Speaking about the event, East added, “India is currently one of the fastest growing markets for us and we look to further boost these numbers. Events like Australia Marketplace India provide a fantastic platform for the Australian suppliers to network and do business with the Indian buyers. This gives our industry a chance to capitalize on the potential of India market and ensure increased visitation from this market.”
Earlier, the destination was looking to connect Perth directly to India, which would boost inbound arrivals to the destination. Australia also introduced a campaign, ‘Undiscover Australia’ and also Signature Tours to boost tourism to little known destinations.
“Perth has a lot of new hotels and infrastructure and also we will be hosting a few ICC T20 matches at the new stadium in Perth as well. This destination is now getting a lot more access, we are looking to further connect this market. During the world cup, it will not be a peak travel season, so domestic connections will be easier to book. In terms of new connectivity between India and Perth, we will look at accelerating the Governmental Policies,” East said.
Speaking further about the Signature experiences, Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager-India, Tourism Australia said, “The states in Australia are growing faster than the popular destinations now. The Signature Tours has witnessed a good steady growth. We have also added Cultural experiences this year. During this Australia Marketplace India we have participation of seven states out of the eight and also a lot of new products which shows these states are witnessing growth from this market.”
