Tourism Australia is seeking to secure a greater share of the 50 million Indians expected to travel overseas by 2020.

The India 2020 Strategic Plan developed by Tourism Australia will harness new research and increased resources, including a doubling of marketing spend in India in FY13 and adopt a targeted approach.

TOURISM POTENTIAL

India is currently Australia’s 10th most valuable inbound tourism market, with 1.48 lakh visitors spending A$867 million in 2011. One of the world’s fastest growing outbound travel markets, India has a potential to rise in annual value to up to A$2.3 billion by 2020 and deliver 300,000 annual visitors, Tourism Australia said.

“India is a market of strong future potential for Australian tourism given this nation’s rapid rise through this Asian Century,” said Mr Andrew McEvoy, Tourism Australia Managing Director.He said that one of the keys to unlocking India’s long-term tourism potential is improved air access and capacity, acknowledging that the market is currently under-served by direct non-stop flights between India and Australia.

INCREASE AIR CAPACITY

He said the Singapore Airlines - Virgin Australia alliance, Malaysian Airlines, the Qantas Group and Thai Airways, through their respective South East Asian hubs, supported the bulk of existing air services on the Australia-India route.

“Preliminary analysis suggests we’ll need an additional 3.45 lakh seats from our existing position to meet the expected demand for Australia from India out to 2020. Working with those carriers, which represent the best opportunity to support Indian travel to Australia, is, therefore, one of our top priorities under this plan,” Mr McEvoy said.

Indian arrivals to Australia have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 per cent over the last decade.

niveditag@thehindu.co.in

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