Indian tourism to Australia is booming, so how can we boost outbound tourism?

Indian tourism to Australia is booming, so how can we boost outbound tourism?

The inbound tourism market from India is booming, particularly in the luxury market. A recent study commissioned by Marriott International Luxury found that 69 per cent of Indian HNW travellers are planning a trip here.

Now the Indian Consulate in Sydney and the Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC) are connecting with the tourism industry to increase outbound leisure tourism to India.

Lack of visibility of India as a potential tourism destination for Australians was identified by tour operators and industry members as one of the key reasons for leisure tourism to India not yet reaching its potential.

Led by Phillip Boniface co-chairman & treasurer, AITCC as the MC for the evening, there were presentations on tourism developments in India by Dr S Janakiraman, Consulate General of India, Sandip Hor Chairman AITTC and Irfan Malik, National co-chair, AIBC.

The speakers made suggestions as to how India could be developed as a venue for newer products like destination weddings, business conferences, cricket tours, river cruising, wildlife Safari, golf and medical tourism.

While Bennet Stephen from Air India spoke about the direct flights between India and Australia, Ichcha Dhupia from Eastbound Tours in India and Claudia Wolfe from Tikka Tours outlined some of the exotic travel experiences available in India.

The highlight of the evening was an interactive panel discussion on various issues affecting growth of leisure travel to India from this part of the world. Moderated by Lisa Maroun, a well-known name in the industry, the panel included Dean Long CEO AFTA, Thushara Liyanrachchi representing the Taj Group of hotels, Bennet Stephen, Air India, Eric Finlay from Adventure World and Cheryl Ryan from 123 Travel.

The key recommendation from the panel was to increase destination knowledge through multiple promotional initiatives. In this context some of the attendees, requested AITTC to recommence their ‘Know India Better’ seminars which during the pre-COVID time was a successful avenue for the industry to know more about tourism developments in the country.

Australia named top luxury destination in APAC with Indian travellers leading the charge

Lead Image: Supplied

 

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

india tourism

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