Australia is expecting more tourists this year, compared to even pre-Covid times.
“We intend to achieve over 400,000 visitors during the year 2023, thereby surpassing the milestone that we achieved pre-Covid,” said Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia.
“Travel recovery remained strong in 2022, with visitor arrivals from India accounting for 75 per cent of pre-Covid levels for the calendar year of 2022.”
With minimal to no restrictions, travellers are now empowered to travel more. “Limitlessly,” he said.
“With the key booking season coming up, we expect to see progression in brisk demand for the year ahead,” Kashikar said.
Australia’s infrastructure, experiences and attractive incentives have also aided in the recovery of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) travel, he said.
“With this continued pace, India is well poised to be the first inbound market for Australia to return to pre-Covid levels during 2023.”
India continues to maintain its rank as Australia’s fourth largest inbound tourism market
According to Tourism Australia, the upcoming Women’s FIFA World Cup that Australia is co-hosting with New Zealand has garnered the attention of sports and travel buffs. The tournament is set to conclude on August 20 in Sydney.
Expanding out of Austin, Texas, South by Southwest (SXSW) will hit the streets of Sydney in October 2023. “It is a festival that will see the convergence of tech, film, music, education and culture. We also have in store certain new accommodations opening across Australia this year,” said Kashikar.
Tour operators said the demand to visit Australia among tourists from Kolkata is going up and a key reason is faster visa.
Visitations out of India for the year ending April 2023 have now exceeded the pre-Covid level, wheras arrivals for the months of March and April 2023 were 114% of the 2019 levels.
“Australian visa is faster to get compared with American or Canadian visa,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman, east, Travel Agents Federation of India.