The travel marketing body last week launched the 'Discover a Great Deal More' virtual travel fair, which offers Indian travellers discounted deals to visit Australia.
The online fair comes after Australia and India inked an agreement on tourism to further increase visitor numbers and enhance the capabilities of Australian tourism businesses in February.
Highlights:
- India and Australia signed a comprehensive interim free-trade agreement on 2 April 2022
- Tourism Australia launchesvirtual travel fair for Indian travellers
- In 2019, Australia welcomed almost 400,000 visitors from India
The new initiative, offering an array of travel deals on flights, hotels, tour packages, car rentals and experiences to Indian tourists, aims to facilitate aviation recovery and help Australian tourism return to pre-COVID levels.
"As part of the campaign, TA has partnered with six major airlines, namely Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Sri Lankan Airlines, Scoot and Thai Airways, to offer all-inclusive, return economy-class airfares to Australia starting from Rs. 48,300 [$880]," an official statement from TA said.
Starting last week, the sale continues until 12 May with a travel validity of up to 31 March 2023 and will be further amplified by TA’s key distribution partners and Aussie Specialist agents.
Pre-Covid, India was Australia’s fastest growing inbound tourism market for three consecutive years. Source: Getty Images/Alejandro Bascuas/EyeEm
The TA statement said that the initiative would help to drive the recovery of tourism, with increased arrivals to Australia, as well as increased bookings on partner airlines and on tourism products.
"The previous versions have recorded over 100,000 bookings for partner airlines," the statement said.
Indian travellers have an opportunity to explore discounted deals on holidays to Australia, for a limited period. Source: Getty Images/LeoPatrizi
Commenting on the new initiative, Nishant Kashikar, TA Country Manager, India and Gulf, said, “Australia remains an incredibly desirable destination for visitors from India and we are always exploring avenues to keep offering great value on Australian holiday experiences to our Indian travellers."
"There is a huge pent-up demand for travel to Australia amongst Indian high-value travellers, and we are confident that this campaign will offer a compelling reason for travellers to book their next holiday to Australia.”
Mr Nishant Kashikar, Tourism Australia’s Country Manager (India & the Gulf countries) Source: Supplied by Tourism Australia (India)
Pre-COVID, India was Australia’s fastest-growing inbound tourism market for three consecutive years.
In 2019, Australia welcomed almost 400,000 visitors from India and was the sixth most valuable market for spend, contributing over A$1.8 billion.
The move has been welcomed by the Indian community as well as travellers.
Davinder Pal Singh has visited Australia a few times in past but is eager to visit again to see the famous Great Barrier Reef.
"I want to visit Australia again and the new travel deals are really helpful in taking that decision and attracting tourists like me," Mr Singh told SBS Hindi.
Davinder Pal Singh (R) with his wife Gurvinder Kaur (L). Source: Supplied by Davinder Pal Singh
"Considering how expensive airline tickets are already, any discounted offers will be welcomed," he said.
Melbourne-based Jaspreet Kaur has been asking her family and friends to visit her in Australia for a long time.
"My friend's family have five members and to buy five tickets together is very expensive so discounted deals like the ones rolled out are very helpful for big families who want to travel," Ms Kaur said.
Ms Jaspreet Kaur Source: Supplied by Jaspreet Kaur
"This new initiative will be very beneficial to both our economy as well as people-to-people linkages," she added.
