‘Indian visitors Down Under exceed pre-Covid figures in 2024’ | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: More Indians are now traveling to Australia than ever before and they are also spending more. Phillipa Harrison, MD of Tourism Australiatold TOI here on Monday that the number of Indian visitors this year will cross the pre-Covid 2019 record. India is also now one of the top five source markets for Australia.
“In 2019, four lakh Indians had visited Australia. When travel started to resume post-Covid, India was the fastest recovering market for us and remains so. Last year, numbers recovered and were just below 2019 figures. Now, we expect to end 2024 with 4.24 lakh visitors from India and exceed pre-Covid levels by 6%,” said Harrison.
China was the second source market for Australia. While it still holds that spot, visitors from there are at 60% of 2019 levels. “New Zealand is our top source market, followed by China, the US, the UK and now India. Before Covid 2019, India was at number six and now it is in our top five,” she said. Travel traffic to and from China has yet to recover to 2019 levels from almost all major markets.
In 2019, the average expenditure per Indian visitor Down Under it was 4,800 Australian dollars. This has now risen to 5,800 Australian dollars. “For the year ending June 2024, Indian visitors spent AU$2.3 billion (approximately Rs 12,600 crore) on their Australian trips, up 29% from 2019.”
“India is a very important market for us, thanks to the excellent relations between the two countries, both on a people-to-people and government-to-government level. Trade between our countries is growing. Our visa process remains very visitor-friendly, without the need for biometrics, a personal interview, the requirement for prior bookings and leaving a passport for stamping. We are witnessing one of the highest footfalls from India,” said Harrison.
The majority of trips between India and Australia are made with one stop, usually via Singapore. “Direct air connectivity, although up from eight weekly flights in pre-Covid times, is now up 330% to 25, but there is still huge scope to add non-stops. We are in discussions with IndiGo and I will be meeting Air India MD & CEO Campbell Wilson (who is from New Zealand). Qantas is also keen to add flights to India and we will see many more non-stops soon,” she said.
Total arrivals in Australia in the year ending August 2024 were approximately 80 lakh, 85% of CY 2019 at 95 lakh. Arrivals from India in January-August 2024 stood at 2.8 lakh, 11% higher than 2023 and also 2019.