First Tourism Australia office in India

November 06 2008 by Simon Wallace

Australia's Tourism Minister is preparing to open India's first Tourism Australia office. Martin Ferguson estimates that up to 500,000 Indians may apply for tourist visas to visit Australia before 2018.

Australia may be a hall-mark of the British backpacker scene, but it is actually India that has proven to be Australia's fastest growing source of tourists: for the past five years, the number of Indian nationals applying for Australian visas has grown by over 20% every year.

It's clear Australia appeals to large numbers of Indian nationals looking for holiday destinations. However, it's not yet clear whether the visa application process is to be modernised in light of Tourism Australia's drive for more Indian tourists. As it stands, Indian tourists currently need to apply for a traditional paper tourist visa, rather than the electronic Australian travel visa available to tourists from other countries.

The opening of the Tourism Australia office in India marks a welcome positive moment in Australia's tourism industry outlook. In the short term, at any rate, Australia looks set to reduce the number of visas it makes available to foreign nationals.

The global economic downturn is likely to reduce visitor numbers from the UK, New Zealand and the USA. As the executive director of Australia's Tourism and Transport Forum puts it, "there will be a diminished market for people looking to holiday both in Australia and overseas" over the next year. That said, many business leaders are calling for Australia to maintain its immigration levels, because there is a strong demand for skilled overseas workers in industries such as fruit-picking.

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