Melbourne Airport has experienced phenomenal growth on the Melbourne-India route recording a 300 per cent rise in passenger volumes over the past 10 years. 
To continue to drive demand a Victorian tourism delegation featuring senior executives from Melbourne Airport, Visit Victoria and Invest Victoria is travelling to India to champion Melbourne as a destination at the CAPA India conference.
Melbourne is home to the largest Indian population in Australia with approximately 170,000 people living locally, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2016, Country of Birth.
Melbourne also welcomes the highest amount of visitors to Australia over any other city, with 166,000 Indians recorded visiting at year end September 2018. There are also 40,000 Indian students studying in Melbourne, the largest amount of Indian students in the nation.
While Melbourne has strong ties to India, only one carrier, Air India, flies the Melbourne-New Delhi route on a non-stop service, three times per week.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said India is one of the airport’s most significant markets growing at a rate faster than all other South East Asia regions.
“India is one of our fastest growing international visitor markets, with visitors increasing by 28 per cent last year, according to the Department of Home Affairs,” said Mr Strambi.
“Currently Air India services the Melbourne-New Delhi route three times per week, and we know there is demand for additional direct services as more than 80 per cent of passengers travelling between Melbourne and India are transiting via another international hub.
“Melbourne Airport has the capacity to welcome more flights thanks to our 24/7 operation and we look forward to showcasing our city’s best assets during our visit to India.”
Visit Victoria CEO Peter Bingeman said Victoria is an increasingly popular destination for Indian visitors being home to a large Indian community, which has tripled in size over the last decade.
“With 3.5 per cent of the Victorian population having Indian ancestry visiting friends and relatives remains a strong driver for Indian tourism. At Visit Victoria we are focussed on building on India’s strong connection to Melbourne and Victoria driving demand through dedicated marketing partnership initiatives and through leveraging major events such as the beloved Boxing Day Test and upcoming T20 World Cup 2020,” said Mr Bingeman.
“Our relationship with India is going from strength to strength, a year ago we anticipated India to be our second most valuable market by 2023 however India has already claimed this position well ahead of predictions. As the latest International Visitor Survey results reveal Indian visitor expenditure experiencing strong growth in Victoria at 35.5 per cent to reach $505 million, this is almost triple the national average growth rate 12.5 per cent.”
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