Tourism Australia eyes boost ahead of 2020 T20 World Cup

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Tourism Australia hosted the 17th edition of its premier trade event, Australia Marketplace India (AMI) in Kochi from August 8 to 11 and the event aimed at connecting Australia's finest tourism experiences to key representatives of the Indian travel industry.

The four-day event, formerly known as India Travel Mission, saw 77 Australian tourism businesses showcasing their products to a record 95 Indian travel companies, an endorsement of the growing popularity of Australia as a destination of choice amongst Indian travellers. 

AMI is an ideal platform for Australian tourism to provide India's top-selling agents of Australian holidays with new news on tourism product and destination updates while also strengthening business relationships. The participating Australian suppliers this year represented a diverse range of businesses including accommodation providers, attractions, experiences, cultural institutions and state and regional tourism organizations. 

The Indian buyers were represented by companies from across 10 Indian cities. 

Commenting on the event, Bob East, Chairman, Tourism Australia, said: "India is currently Australia's fastest growing inbound market and events like AMI provide a fantastic opportunity to reaffirm Australia's appeal amongst the trade and for our industry to capitalize on India's potential, ensuring sustained growth in visitation and spend from India. Our Indian travel partners have been tremendously supportive of Australia and they are some of our best advocates, who have played a big role in making Australia a preferred holiday destination amongst Indian high value travellers."

"As the host nation of the upcoming ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, played as two standalone tournaments for women and men, the coming year will be an exciting time for us, and we look forward to welcoming more Indian travellers to experience the Australian way of life." 

Brent Anderson, Regional General Manager, South & South East Asia, Tourism Australia, said: "The exceptional year-on-year double-digit growth in visitors and spends from India is a result of the continued efforts of several stakeholders in the tourism industry in this important tourism market. We aim to sustain this growth trajectory and pursue an even more ambitious target off the back of our unmatched holiday experiences."

"The upcoming T20 Cricket World Cup also provides a great opportunity for both buyers and sellers to offer the Indian traveller a world-class product that is best suited to their needs," he added.

Visitors from India to Australia reached 3,67,000 during the year ended May 2019, growing 11 per cent compared to the previous year. Indian visitors to Australia spent 1.7 billion dollars for the year ended March 2019, an increase of 12 per cent over the previous year. 

To support increasing demand from India, Australia is gearing up to ensure visa processing is as fast and convenient as possible. Unlike other countries, Australia does not require you to attend an office in-person to lodge your application, provide biometrics or attend an interview and there is no requirement to send the passport. 

Visa applications can be lodged online at the convenience of the traveller. The average time taken for an online visitor visa to be granted is only 15 days and business visa applications are processed within eight days.