Maharashtra has emerged as the leading source market for Australia with over 59,000 tourists from the state visiting the Down Under in June 2017. According to data released by Tourism Australia for June 2017, over 59,000 tourists from Maharashtra visited Australia spending AUD 310 million.
Maharashtra contributed to a growth of 18% in tourist footfalls for the year ended June 2017. In 2017, a total of 2,77,100 Indian tourists visited Australia, which is a growth of nearly 15 per cent over the last year, and makes India the ninth largest inbound market.
Maharashtra was followed by Delhi, from where 32,000 holiday-makers travelled to Australia. The capital state was followed by Karnataka (30,000), Tamil Nadu (20,000), Punjab (18,000) and Gujarat (17,000).
However, West Bengal, which was at the ninth position among Indian source markets, witnessed the maximum growth of 97 per cent with 11,400 people from the state travelling to Australia, according to the data.
“Over the years, we have undertaken several focused campaigns as part of our consumer outreach efforts. Our collaboration with television over the past two years has definitely helped us to not only build awareness, but also drive visitation from our number one state (Maharashtra),” said Tourism Australia Country Manager, India and Gulf, Nishant Kashikar. He was speaking to PTI.
In terms of specific trends, travellers from the western state of India were keen on sampling a range of experiences, including aquatic and coastal (beaches), self-drive, nature, wildlife and adventure on their Australian sojourn. “With a growing penchant for travel, we expect growth from our top metro cities to continue over the years to follow,” Nishant Kashikar added.
