ndia, always viewed as a culturally rich and exotic destination from this market, has emerged as one of the ‘hot’ tourism spots for Australians over the last three years, a combination of cashed up baby boomers and the over 30s and youth markets all seeking the great visual and cultural experience.
The growth has also been helped by a strong media profile on the country’s rapid economic development and the ongoing Government of India Tourist Office’s ‘Incredible India’ marketing campaign that has highlighted the rich, colourful diversity of the sub continent.
Agent educationals, backed up by agent seminars held regularly across the country, have also done much to help the industry in selling the vast range of wholesaler product in the marketplace.
“We are definitely witnessing a boom in travel to India,” said The Imaginative Traveller general manager Warren Smith.
“We experienced double departures on three tours in October and November last year, with continued high booking levels into 2006 - in fact, we are looking at record booking levels for India,” Smith said.
For 2006/7, he said, the company has increased departures on seven of its 19 itineraries, and added extra departure dates for the famous Pushkar Fair held every September.
Alan Alcock, managing director of Wendy Wu Tours, said while 2005 was good, 2006 was proving outstanding as far as bookings were concerned, with its Grand and Highlights tours already fully booked through to September.
His words were echoed by Intrepid Travel which is also experiencing “great growth” with its expanded product range, and Exotic Destinations which has just launched a 60-page India brochure.
“This brochure reflects the tremendous interest in India - and the fact that our clients are travelling extensively throughout the country - from Kerala to Darjeeling to Leh in the Himalayas,” managing director Joan Liguel said.
A major stimulus to bookings has been the online three times weekly Qantas services between Sydney and Mumbai introduced 18 months ago.
This has been backed up by Singapore Airlines’ services from Singapore into a dozen or more India destinations and vastly improved air and ground internal connections - courtesy of a dynamic economy.
The improved domestic access, especially air travel, has seen Australians spread across the country - from the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in the central mid-north, the state of Kerala and Goa and Chennai in the south to the spiritual Gaya (the birth place of Buddha) in the east, and Ledakh in the Himalayas on the Indo-Tibet border.
“The Golden Triangle is number one on the list for those travelling to India for the first time, taking in the Taj Mahal at Agra and the forts and royal palaces of Jaipur,” an India Tourism spokeswoman said.
“But many, say on a 15-day trip, will then visit Mumbai in the west and Chennai and Kerala and its famed waterways in the south, or even head up to Kashmir and Ladakh,” the spokeswoman added.
“The Hills region, with its colonial charm - especially Shimla - is also proving an attraction for Australians.”
What all this means is that the tourism figures for India are jumping.
In 2004, 65,000 Australians visited India. This increased by nearly a third in 2005 to 85,000 and the figure for 2006 is expected to register an increase close to another 20 per cent.
“The trend is very good,” she added.
28 June 2006
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