cricket – Into India

With a World Cup cricket win, the lives of young girls in India are changing

A game such as cricket can change our society, and this is surely the case for girls and young women growing up in India.

The Indian women’s cricket team won their first World Cup, playing to a sold-out suburban Mumbai stadium of 45,000-seat capacity and drawing over 300 million views online.

Can you imagine how many girls are now dreaming of a sporting future?

In India, this win means women’s cricket is now standing on its own merit, and there will be millions of young women turning up to play the game – which in itself is a social change.

Advertising and sponsorships will flood in for this team.

But the powerful BCCI, India’s cricket governing body, must increase women’s tournaments so they have more game time and add Women’s Premier League teams to absorb new talent. Demand for local coaching and equipment will explode – and the BCCI needs to step up.

Change from the BCCI has been slow – for example, this week the board announced a bonus of 510 million rupees for the women’s team, less than half the 1.25 billion rupees it gave to the men’s team when they won the T20 World Cup last year.

They cannot ignore the level of “love of the game” among Indian women and cricket fans around the world.

Let’s hope for an India vs Australia final for the next women’s world cup!

Indians shaping as the big thing in Aussie tourism

Indian tourists to Australia on the rise, spending more and trending to younger

Australia is now the second highest in India for awareness, consideration and active planning for touring Australia, just below Dubai and surrounds. The “big three” for Indians are Dubai, USA and Australia.

What is exciting about the Indian traveller market is that there is an attitudinal shift – from saving to spending.

Arrivals from India for the year 2023 were at 396,000; which were on par with 2019 levels.

Indian travellers are spending more – spending A$2.2 bn on their Australia trips (an increase of 20% when compared with 2019).

In addition to the shift to spending, there is a generational shift: Indians are travelling at a much younger age.

In my home state of Victoria and the city of Melbourne, India was Victoria’s second largest tourism market by value in 2019 and is the fastest growing international visitor market to return to Victoria following the reopening of Australia’s international borders.

Factors of greatest importance to Indian travellers are safety/ security, beautiful natural environments and value for money.

Seven in ten Indian travellers are aware of Australia as a holiday destination, with half considering travelling to Australia within the next four years and one in five who are actively planning their holiday.

Australia is strongly associated by Indians with world class beaches/ coastlines/ marine wildlife, having different and interesting wildlife, having a good range of accommodation, being family friendly and having good infrastructure.

That’s why our tourism organisations, Austrade and State Government trade offices are placing such focus on promoting Australian tourism.

It’s and exciting future for Australia.

Xentrix Studios Australia Animated Cricket Series ‘Snick and Willow’ to add real spin to our India relations

Xentrix Studios Australia has created a brilliant animated cricket series which will score big runs in both India and Australia – bringing us closer together on our favourite topic, cricket.

Don’t read what I say – watch this and be impressed…

The whole project is championed by famous cricketer Lord Ian Botham and was developed in collaboration with parent company, Xentrix Studios India.

Ken Cantrill, Head of Creative of Xentrix Studios Australia and Co-Creator of Snick and Willow. “The series is destined to be a massive success.”

This series is more than cricket, bridging cultures and inspiring young audiences worldwide. That is why INTO INDIA is so excited.

It educates about teamwork, courage, and the spirit of sportsmanship.

Can’t wait for it to come out – rumour is it will be launched during the Australia vs India Boxing Day Test this summer in Melbourne.

Want to know more about Xentrix?

https://www.xentrixstudios.com/