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— Shashi Ashiwal

(Left) Mr Martin Ferguson, AM MP, Minister of Tourism, Australia, and Mr Geoffrey Buckley, Managing Director, addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Monday.

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Nov. 3 While the overall international arrivals to Australia might have remained flat for the year ended August 31, 2008, when compared to last year, tourists from India continue to flock to the destination.

According to the figures released by Tourism Australia, there has been a surge of 24 per cent in the number of visitors from India for the year ended August 31, 2008, compared to last year, with 1,11,600 Indians visiting the destination during the period.

India is the 12th largest inbound market for Australia in terms of arrivals with forecasted average growth of 17 per cent, said the statement.

Of the total arrivals of visitors from India in 2007, maximum visitors were arriving in Australia for a holiday (23,822), followed by those visiting friends and relatives (20,914), those coming for business (24,922), students (10,333), those coming for employment (7,269) and others (7,951).

India is the 10th largest source market in terms of expenditure. Travellers from the country accounted for 3 per cent of all 2007 international expenditure. The destination also saw a surge in the average length of stay by Indians for the year ending June 2008. While by Indians it was 58 nights, global average length of stay was only 31 nights.

Speaking on the scenario going forward, given the financial crisis that engulfs global economy, Ms Maggie White, General Manager, South/South East Asia and Gulf Countries, said the destination does not see any alarming signs till Christmas. “No cancellations of trips have been seen so far because that means people losing more money. What happens after Christmas and New Year is too early to predict.”

However, visitors’ arrivals to Australia have seen a dip of four per cent during August 2008 compared to the same month last year, said the statement.

More Stories on : Tourism | Maharashtra

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