A total of 6.1 million international visitors arrived in Australia last year, an annual increase of 4.6 per cent, the primary source of growth being the Asian markets. Where does India rank in this growth?
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| Nishant Kashikar |
Asian markets contribute to seven out of the top ten source destinations for Australia, and there is a great opportunity for Australian tourism in the Asia-Pacific region – the fastest growing economy, travel and aviation markets on the planet. Key source markets in Asia driving overall arrivals to Australia include China (including Hong Kong), Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea. India is recognised as one of the key Asian markets driving growth and is currently Australia’s 10th largest inbound tourism market. For the 2012 calendar year, there were 159,420 visitors from India to Australia, an increase of 7.5 per cent relative to the same period last year.
Australia saw 89,240 Indian leisure visitors (56 per cent of total visitors), 28,860 business travellers (18 per cent of total visitors) and 13,370 students (eight per cent of total visitors). Of the leisure visitors, 58,120 travelled to either visit friends or relatives. The Tourism Forecasting Council predicts 175,000 arrivals from India to Australia in 2013. Arrivals from India are expected to perform well, with an average annual financial year growth rate of 7.2 per cent through to the financial year 2020-21.
How does Tourism Australia (TA) plan to use social media as a marketing tool? And how does India figure in this online strategy?
TA’s Social Media Programme focuses on stimulating conversations about Australia through key platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram to influence travellers venturing online to research a future holiday. Our Facebook page has over four million global fans. We mainly post user-generated content, which encourages fans to continue sharing their own stories and experiences on an ongoing basis. The ‘Things to do’ tab on TA’s Facebook fan page allows the Australian tourism industry to add their pages and events directly onto the Australian page. Acting as an online directory for fans of Australia, the tab allows users to search for places and events by location, experience and date – and then click through to find more.
For our campaign ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ in India, in addition to a new broadcast ad and print executions, we have also had a strong digital focus. This includes amplifying our global social media initiatives – we currently have close to 120,000 Indian fans on our global Facebook page – and are evaluating opportunities to have an engaging activity to promote Australia on social media platforms that our audience is active on, including LinkedIn. We also encourage our travel partners to motivate conversations on Australia using their social media networks.
How is Australia growing as a MICE hub vis a vis strong competition from short haul destinations like Singapore?
Australia features in the consideration set of medium to large sized corporate entities that are keen to incentivise their top performers with unique experiences that are amongst the world’s best. With corporates looking at experiential trips to wow their teams, MICE travel is no longer restricted to traditional destinations and experiences. This progression has opened up a lot of opportunities for us and we look at business travel at par with leisure.
There were 28,860 business arrivals into Australia during 2012 and the segment contributed to 18 per cent of total inbound tourists into Australia. With the visit of over 4,000 Amway India delegates to Melbourne in December, the convention and conference arrivals registered an impressive 33 per cent growth 2012.
As part of our promotional initiatives for this segment, we collaborate with the convention bureaus and travel agents specialising in MICE to promote the business events segment in India through various on-ground trade events, corporate familiarisation programmes and other marketing initiatives. Over the past two years, we have hosted approximately 35 corporates, along with five MICE specialist agents to showcase the business events facilities offered by Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast.
India-Australia is a largely untapped market with significant potential, given both the volume of trade, tourism and VFR traffic between the two nations, yet it remains without direct air service. Any chances of a change in the scenario?
One of our challenges in the past years has been direct aviation connectivity to Australia from India. Most Indian travellers to Australia presently travel through south east Asian hubs such as Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Aviation capacity is critical to Australia achieving the India 2020 potential. Supporting a sustainable and competitive aviation market will be the focus of the Aviation Development Strategy. As part of the India 2020 plan, Tourism Australia is working with Indian and south east Asian carriers to identify opportunities for the Australia-India route and provide partnership solutions. The strategy also aims to add value to the work already being done by states, territories, regions and airports.
Our focus has been on building partnerships with airlines using the ‘One-Voice’ approach along with our state and territory partners and working towards common objectives of increasing traffic to Australia from India. As part of our trade events programme, The India Mega Famil and Workshop held in Melbourne during September 2012 witnessed participation from Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, Virgin Australia, Malaysia Airlines and Qantas, who engaged with potential Indian agents. Our consumer marketing initiatives have also included collaborations with Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines on tactical campaigns offering great value deals to potential travellers.
Destinations like Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne have for long been favourites of Indian outbound visitors. Which are the new destinations TA plans on promoting in the India market?
There are countless unexplored destinations within Australia for Indian travellers and our new brand campaign focuses on showcasing some of the best of Australia experiences to consumers. We would like to acquaint Indian visitors to destinations like Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island in Queensland; Western Australia that has spectacular diversity in landscapes and climates; Northern Territory famous for two iconic attractions the vast wetlands and plains of Kakadu National Park, and the sandstone rock formation called Uluru, among others. Few Indians would perhaps know that parts of Australia receive snow during the Australian winter and snowfield regions like Mt Buller which is three hours away from Melbourne is a perfect getaway to indulge in snow activities.
We also recommend visitors to undertake self-drive holidays in Australia which are a great way of touring the country. There is much to be explored beyond the cities of Australia including experiences along the Grand Pacific Drive and Port Stephens known for its dolphins near Sydney. From Melbourne one can explore the beauty of the Great Ocean Road famed for its Twelve Apostles, Phillip Island famous for its penguins. Kangaroo Island near Adelaide is renowned for its untouched natural beauty and diverse wildlife. An Indian driving license issued in English is valid in Australia making it a convenient travel option for Indian visitors to Australia.
TA has associated with the Luxperience event in Sydney in September this year to boost awareness of the country’s high-end travel offerings. What are the high-end travel products that would appeal to HNIs from India?
Australia is the world’s most stunning backdrop for a luxurious getaway. Barefoot luxury is a new trend that has become synonymous with a more ‘natural’ holiday. The amount of sun, sand and open space in Australia is a luxury of the rarest kind. Australia has everything from five-star resort retreats and hotels, to barefoot paradises – pure and simple, but exclusive by virtue of their remoteness, their special location or the small number of guests at any one time. One of the products we have recently introduced in India and that has been quite well received are the Luxury Lodges of Australia – a collection of accommodation ranging from wilderness lodges to vineyard retreats and dining destinations; island hideaways to luxurious outback camps.
Cricket has a strong fan following in India, a similarity India shares with Australia. What is TA’s marketing plan to promote sports tourism?
Holidays in Australia are about ‘switching on’ and apart from big sports events; there are lots of activities that travellers can themselves indulge in while in Australia. Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and areas around the Great Barrier Reef are well known for the adventure sporting activities they offer. While surfing is a popular sport, few know that you can also ski in the Snowy Mountains during the winter. Snorkeling and scuba diving are world-class around the Great Barrier Reef, while there are several scenic hiking and biking options as well. We would also like Indian visitors to experience international sports events like cricket – a sport that is enjoyed equally by both countries. Sports activities are also a big draw for business events programmes as incentives to top performers to attend world class sports competitions. We recently had a group of corporate decision makers attend a tennis match at the Australian Open, an experience that corporates can use as incentive.
