Tourism Australia managing director, Phillipa Harrison, and a senior delegation of Australian tourism and business events leaders have travelled to India to meet with key stakeholders in the market.
Harrison has been joined on the four-day mission by CEOs from state and territory tourism organisations and state convention bureaus. The delegation will visit New Delhi and Mumbai from 11-14 November to meet senior officials from Air India & IndiaGo and key distribution partners including MakeMyTrip & Thomas Cook.
The trip is aimed at further strengthening ties with the key partners in India, which has been one of the fastest markets to recover since international borders reopened in 2022, with arrivals from the market to Australia exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
In the 12 months to August 2024 Australia has welcomed 423,000 travellers from India, which is 106 per cent compared to the same period pre-pandemic.
The visit also takes place just weeks before the first cricket Test between Australia and India begins in Perth. The five-Test series this Summer will put Australia in the spotlight across India giving Tourism Australia an opportunity to ramp up its efforts in the growing market.
In India, Harrison will launch a four-part social content series starring recently retired Australian cricket player David Warner, who remains incredibly popular in India. The series, to feature on Tourism Australia’s Instagram account @australia, will play a role in helping to attract travellers from India to Australia.
In the video series, Warner issues a warm welcome to Indian travellers and highlights some of his personal favourite Australian holiday destinations including Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
With cricket fans across India set to tune in to watch the Tests in enormous numbers Tourism Australia will also take the opportunity to showcase what Australia has to offer outside of stadiums through a campaign featuring brand ambassador, Ruby the Kangaroo. It will launch next week and promote Australia into India throughout the five Test series.
There are now 26 flights per week between Australia and India which is well up from the 8 flights per week in 2019 and takes seat capacity to 333 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
There are now direct flights to Australia from key Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru.
India is a growing market with future strong potential for Australia, with Tourism Research Australia (TRA) expecting visitor arrivals from the market to double 2019 levels. TRA forecasts arrivals from India to reach almost 650,000 by 2028.
Harrison said “With a population of more than 1.4 billion we know India will play a growing role in global tourism over the next decade and we want to make sure Australia is part of that.
“Already we have seen the number of Indian travellers to Australia exceed 2019 levels and we are keen for arrivals to continue to track in that direction.
“The potential for the India market really is endless and that’s why we are taking such a senior delegation of Australian tourism and business events leaders to India to meet with key stakeholders.
Senior delegation in India:
Tourism Australia:
Phillipa Harrison, managing director, Tourism Australia
STOs:
Steve Cox, CEO, Destination NSW
Emma Terry, CEO, South Australian Tourism Commission
Ollie Philpot, group executive – Commercial and Partnerships, Tourism and Events Queensland
Scott Lovett, Deputy CEO, Tourism NT
Anne Greentree, Acting CEO, Tourism Tasmania
Steph Underwood, acting managing director, Tourism Western Australia
Brendan McClements, CEO, Visit Victoria
Jonathan Kobus, CEO, Visit Canberra
Business Events:
Lyn Lewis-Smith, CEO, Business Events Sydney
Julia Swanson, CEO, Melbourne Convention Bureau
Gareth Martin, CEO, Business Events Perth
Damien Kitto, CEO, Business Events Adelaide
Tara Bennett, GM – Partnerships & Events, Business Events Cairns and Great Barrier Reef
Brooke Campbell, Director – Business Events, Experience Gold Coast
Michael Matthews, CEO, Canberra Convention Bureau
