Destination Australia gains ground in Telugu States

“AP and Telangana are the sixth largest markets proposed in Australia. Last year, we had almost 15,300 tourists from these States, which recorded a 21 per cent increase compared to the previous year. So, they are growing faster than the national growth, which is around 18 per cent.”
- Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia

21 per cent increase in 2015 arrivals from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, recorded the States as one of the key tourism market in India

Making it to the eighth position, India has become one of the largest inbound markets for Australia. Be it the falling currency value of the Australian dollar or the increased connectivity between these two countries, it surely has come as a boon for Indian tourists.

“It is encouraging to see Indian visitors have the highest levels of intention to visit Australia and this has also reflected in the consistent growth in visitor arrivals to Australia”, says Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia. Commenting on the growing demand, he says, “Indians have now become more experiential and are embracing newer holiday ideas.

With the primary objective of driving conversion and yield from the Indian market, we have launched the latest campaign with our key distribution and airline partners to provide further impetus to the growing visitor arrivals. The commercials will be aired across 25 television channels.”

“We have almost a four-month campaign on digital and social media. In addition, we are advertising for the ongoing India-Australia ODI and T20 series in Australia. Over the years, our marketing campaigns have addressed the needs of different travel segments.

Focused campaigns, such as ‘There’s nothing like Australia’, ‘Restaurant Australia’, ‘Aquatic and Coastal’ continue to build Australia’s appeal amongst the potential long-haul travellers," he adds.

Responding to the rise in visitors from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Nishant Kashikar asserts, “AP and Telangana combined are the sixth largest market proposed in Australia. Last year, we had almost 15,300 tourists from these States, which recorded a 21 per cent increase compared to previous year.

This means that tourists from these two States are growing faster than the national growth, which is around 18 per cent.” “The Telugu States have contributed A$ 90 mn (Rs 435 crore approx) to the Australian economy. So these markets are critical and important for us and therefore, we work very closely with our aviation partners to make it better,” he adds.

Speaking on upcoming attractions, Nishant says, “In March, there will be an event taking place in Australia, called ‘Noma’. Noma is the name of a restaurant owned by a leading chef, René Redzepi who is based in Denmark; the winner of ‘World’s Best Restaurant’. So, he is moving his restaurant from Denmark to Australia for 10 weeks, from January to April.

We also have seven food elite influencers from India like Sanjeev Kapoor, Vicky Ratnani, Ranveer Brar, Rashmi Uday Singh, Vir Sanghvi among others who will be travelling to Australia to participate in ‘Inviting the World to Dinner’ along with other global food elites on March 2.”

Talking about their plans for 2016, he says “Our aim is to reach 2,50,000 tourists and to achieve this, we intend to work closely with our airline and key distribution partners to ensure that we offer good packages. The value of Australian dollar has depreciated by 15 per cent over the last two years, which means the cost of an Australian holiday is 15 per cent less, so it is a perfect time to plan out a trip.”