Indian tourists choosing Australia – and Melbourne is a “must see”

Australia had a 19 per cent growth in Indian tourist arrivals between June 2017-May 2018, with 330,700 Indians visiting the country.

This has made India the eighth largest inbound market, after China, New Zealand, the US, Britain, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, according to the data.

Indians are also considered good spenders while travelling Down Under – spending by Indian tourists grew by 14 per cent between April 2017 and March 2018, with visitors spending AUD 1.53 billion.

In terms of spending, India stood seventh after China, the US, Britain, New Zealand, Japan and Korea.

This is the fourth year where Australia has recorded double-digit growth in both arrivals and spend, indicating the destination’s growing preference among Indians.

The recent government move to extend online visitor visa applications to all Indians also helped boost the numbers.

Melbourne is a “must see” – beautifully designed city, clean, green, lots of parks, the famous MCG (the city is a sporting capital, with Australian Open tennis and Grand Prix), galleries and great shopping – plus easy access to the Great Ocean Road and the Phillip Island penguins. This is Australia’s most multicultural (diverse) city with people from Greece, Italy, China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, Britain and more, making it a rich food and cultural centre.

Author: Stephen Manallack

Former President, Australia India Business Council, Victoria and Author, You Can Communicate; Riding the Elephant; Soft Skills for a Flat World (published by Tata McGraw-Hill INDIA); Communicating Your Personal Brand. Director, EastWest Academy Pty Ltd and Trainer/Speaker/Mentor in Leadership, Communication and Cross Cultural Communication. Passionate campaigner for closer western relations with India. Stephen Manallack is a specialist on “Doing Business with India” and advisor/trainer on “Cross-Cultural Understanding”. He is a Director of EastWest Academy Pty Ltd which provides strategic advice and counsel regarding business relations with India. A regular speaker in India on leadership and global communication, his most recent speaking tour included a speech to students of the elite Indian university, Amity University, in Noida. He also spoke at a major Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) global summit, the PR Consultants Association of India in Delhi, the Symbiosis University in Pune and Cross-Cultural Training for Sundaram Business Services in Chennai. He has visited India on business missions on 10 occasions and led three major trade missions there. He provides cross-cultural training – Asia and the west. View all posts by Stephen Manallack