Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Nov 30, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Nov 30, 2005 |
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Industry & Economy
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Tourism `Number of tourists to Australia from Western India increasing' Our Bureau
Pune , Nov. 29 COMPARED to destinations such as the US, Europe and even South East Asia, Australia might look a far cry. But about 25 per cent of the travellers touching Australia are from the western region, comprising Mumbai, Pune and even Ahmedabad. Ms Maggie White, Regional Manager, South and South East Asia, Tourism Australia, said about 65,000 tourists have visited Australia to see what it offers as a tourist destination. And these are figures for the first nine months of the calendar year and is growing at 20 per cent, she said. Of this, 25 per cent came from the West, slightly lesser than New Delhi and from secondary cities such as Hyderabad, Bangalore and even Kolkata. Compared to China, India comes a far second as about 2,72,000 Chinese tourists have visited the country. For the Chinese tourists it is their first destination outside the country. The preferred locations continue to be Sydney, the Gold Coast, Cairns and Melbourne. Now Darwin is also on the radar and it has the advantage as low-cost airlines and even Mumbai flights land there. Ms White said to make the visit to Australia more easier, the Tourism Department has kick started a few programmes that would facilitate easier visa access for the tour of the country. In 2001, it had started the Aussie Specialist programme and currently has about 115 agencies in 23 cities catering to the tourists. Plans are also on to increase the number, she said. She added that it is also launching the electronic lodgement of visa, which would be ready by the middle of next year.
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