Australia and India must reinforce their cooperation to boost tourism on both sides of the Pacific Ocean…
NEW DELHI- Australia Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson has called for direct air connectivity between India and Australia to boost tourism. He stated this during his discussion with his Indian counterpart, Union Tourism Minister Shri K.Chiranjeevi. Both Ministers also expressed their will to strengthen bilateral tourism cooperation.
Referring to the recent road shows organized by India Tourism in Australia, Shri Chiranjeevi expressed the hope that such shows will contribute to attract more tourists from Australia. The Minister also suggested the creation of a Joint Tourism forum where tour operators, hoteliers, airlines and other tourism stakeholders may exchange ideas for the promotion and the development of tourism between both countries. The Minister also expressed the views that Australia and India should explore the possibilities of renewing the MoU on tourism cooperation which expired in 2008.The Minister also suggested easing of visa norms to boost tourism.
India and Australia are important tourism markets for each other. Australia is one of top 10 tourist generating markets for India as far as inbound tourism is concerned. Number of Australian visited India during the last five years were :
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
135925 146209 149074 169647 186002
India tourism Office in Sydney looks after promotion and marketing of India in Australia. Overall the marketing efforts have been directed at re-enforcing the brand and creating year round traffic. India Office of Tourism regularly undertakes comprehensive promotion, developing partnership with airlines, the travel industry, media, community groups and Government.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
