Tourism Australia (TA)’s new campaign aims to drive travellers from India, its fastest growing market, to explore beyond its usual attractions. Titled ‘Undiscover Australia’, the A$10 million campaign is launched simultaneously in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager India, Tourism Australia, said: “Whilst there is high awareness, aspiration and intention to visit Australia, potential Indian travellers perceive Australia to be one-dimensional in terms of tourism experiences.We want to raise the bar by showcasing undiscovered and hidden holiday gems like visit to lavender fields, walk through field lights in Uluru or go for a ski on Mount Buller in Victoria that gets more snow than Switzerland.”
India is currently Australia’s fastest growing market for arrivals and spends, achieving a sixth consecutive year of double-digit growth. 22 percent of them are repeat travellers. With an average spend of $5000 spend on a 10 to 14 day visit, Indian travellers have highest per day spend.
Phillip Island – Penguin Parade
Mr Kashikar said: “We want to capitalise on India opportunity as getting visa is simple, Australian dollar is holding on between 50 and 51 Indian Rupees, as against deeply fluctuating US dollar and Euro and direct flight on Air India takes just 11 to 11.5 hours to reach Australia.” He added that Consumer Demand Project (CDP) research in India has put Australia on top of an Indian travellers mind, much beyond Switzerland at second position. Australia government’s India economic strategy has found that Indians are travelling at much younger age, are shifting from ‘saving’ to ‘splurging’ attitude, from group travel to individual travel and are ready for new travel segments.
Paramjit Singh Bawa, Country Manager India, Destination NSW, said: “We’re supporting the campaign in India in a limited way, in terms of promotional activity through different kinds of media. 60 percent of first time Indian visitors to New South Wales (NSW) still want to see iconic attractions like the three sisters in Blue Mountains and Sydney Opera House.”
Field of Light – Uluru
158,000 Indians visited NSW for the year ending March 2018 at a 21.7 percent growth over previous year. 138,000 among them were FITs or non-group tourists. Snowy mountains, self drive, Byron Bay, Cricket Museum at Bradman’s birthplace, Western Plain Zoo and farm stays are latest attractions on offer for Indian travellers to NSW.
Mr Kashikar said: “We’re working with our distribution partners, friends of Australia and through 3800 Aussie specialists in India. We target to train 2400 agents in a year through weekly training at our office. We’ll be launching the campaign through digital, print and social media.”
SOTC, Thomas Cook and Makemytrip are Tourism Australia’s partners in India. Airline market place launched during non-seasons in India has TA publishing attractive packages along with its 8 airline partners.
Mr. Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia
335,000 Indians visited Australia in the year ending June 2018. Indians spent $ 1.53 billion from April 2017 to March 2018. Having achieved its 2020 target of 300,000 arrivals much in advance, TA now aims to reach Indian spend target of $ 1.9 bn by June 2019.
The campaign challenging perceptions and stereotypes of what Australia offers is targeting high value travellers. A brochure on Signature Experiences of Australia with key contacts for each segment is released along. 7 key segments include Australian wildlife journeys, discover aboriginal experiences, great fishing adventures, golf courses, walks, luxury lodges and winery experiences
Written by Anand & Madhura Katti
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