Tourism Australia prepares for Indian influx
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Tourism Australia is preparing to welcome an influx of Indian tourists over the coming years, driven by the launch of new direct air links between the two countries.
Later this week, Air India will commence new direct flights connecting Delhi with both Sydney and Melbourne. And Tourism Australia has now released details of new research it believes will help it maximise the potential of India as a visitor source market.
“India is one of the world’s fastest growing outbound travel markets, with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation predicting 50 million outbound travellers by 2020. While these numbers are staggering, the bulk of this travel is to near neighbours. Tourism Australia has been very active in the market for a number of years and now has a 4% share of medium to long haul travel,” said the tourism board’s managing director, Andrew McEvoy.
“We’ve significantly upped our efforts in India over the past three years and the results are evident. Whilst overall arrivals are up a solid 7.8%, leisure visitors have grown at double that rate. By getting in on the action early, we hope to reap the benefits as long-haul leisure travel becomes more common amongst India’s rapidly emerging middle classes,” he added.
The latest research, which was carried out in six Indian cities, found that Australia is considered a ‘highly aspirational’ destination for Indian travellers, with the country’s beaches and landmarks high on the travel wish list. Indians’ perceptions of Australia are largely positive, acknowledging the country’s natural scenery and unique wildlife, as well as the country’s modern cities, and Australians were viewed as laid back and friendly.
Recommendations from family and friends were found to play a very influential role in the selection of Australia as a travel destination, while packaged holidays are preferred over independent travel, and most Indian travellers continue to use travel agents when planning and booking a holiday to Australia.
This latest research will be used by Tourism Australia to shape its 10-year marketing plan for the country, which is expected to be worth up to AU$2.3 billion (US$2.1m) to Australia by the end of the decade. In the year ending June 2013, Australia attracted 164,000 Indian visitors, up 7.8% year-on-year, contributing AU$804m to the Australian economy.
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