Chennai: India has emerged as the fastest growing inbound market for Australia with an influx of 2,94,000 visitors, thus making India the ninth largest inbound market for Australia, and inches closer towards achieving its Tourism 2020 goal of 3,00,000 visitors annually -three years ahead of the target. Indian visitor spends in Australia for the year ended September 2017 reached AUD 1.45 billion (approx. Rs. 7,200 crore), an increase of 26 % over the previous year, making India the eighth largest market in terms of spend by tourists.
“We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgment process, with over 60 % of the total tourist visa applications now received online. November 2017 has witnessed the highest-ever tourist visa lodgments. Online lodgment offers benefits such as 24 / 7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online,” says Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) commented. Processing times for these visas will now be faster, as both applications and supporting documentation are immediately available to the processing office. This will be good news for every Indian visitor planning a trip to Australia, whether for business or pleasure.
Says Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia, “it is an extremely proud moment for us to achieve the fastest growing market status in our 50th anniversary year of marketing Australia to the world as a visitor destination. Our focus on content integration initiatives, partnerships with airlines and Aussie specialist agents, and increased digital focus has been the cornerstone for these impressive results. We’d like to thank our trade and aviation partners who have been a part of this incredible journey.”
