Australia eyes Indian tourists

Melbourne, Jan 11 (UNI) In a bid to woo Indian tourists to Australia, its Tourism Department has devised a strategy to attract more visitors in the coming decades.

As an immediate measure, Australia, on an offer from Indian tourism, will open its first tourism office in India this year to seize the opportunities. It is also planning aggressive marketing and public relation campaigns in India.

It is expected that the Australian tourism office would be opened in Mumbai as it is the financial hub of the South Asian country having a population of around 18 million.

''Indian outbound tourism is forecast to double by 2008, while 100 million Chinese will travel overseas by 2020. Through the Emerging Markets Strategy, the Government is addressing obstacles to ensure Australia attracts fair share of these potential tourists,'' Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said while releasing National Tourism Emerging Markets Strategy.

''For example, we have assisted the tourism industry to address cultural issues, strengthened the China Approved Destination Status scheme and have established a new online tourist visa for Indian visitors,'' she said.

''India's booming economy is fuelling a wealthy and outward-bound mobile middle-class, offering new opportunities for Australia,'' the Minister added.

The Australian Tourism Department expects half a million Indian tourists to visit the country till 2025, if the newly-devised strategy achieves its desired target.

Around 80,000 Indians visited Australia in 2005-06, a 33 per cent increase from the previous financial year. The Australian Minister expects this figure to double within two years and said Australia would be hosting 550,000 Indian tourists per year by 2025.

China is even larger in the Australian scheme of things as the Chinese market is forecast to grow from 292,300 visitors in 2005-06 to become Australia's top source of visitors in 2017, with 2.1 million visitors by 2025. The Indian market is projected to be worth two billion Australian dollars.

According to the major recommendations made in the Emerging Markets Strategy for the Indian market, Tourism Australia would undertake studies to identify the best prospect customers for Australia and their motivations.

According to the Strategy document issued today, the visa regime for Indian tourists has already been relaxed. Steps would be taken to expand the Aussie Specialist Programme (ASP) which provides travel agents with the training, knowledge, resources and regular product updates required to explore the country.

Australian government would also provide more funding for implementing the strategy.

The Australian Tourism mandarins would also endeavour to maximise opportunities for bilateral tourism growth, as outlined in the Australia-India Memorandum of Understanding.

UNI