DRMumbai: To build on the momentum created by the boom in Indian tourist arrivals in the current fiscal, Melbourne will be hosting an India-Australia Boxing Day cricket match this year. The city will also be hosting the ICC World T20 men’s and women’s cricket matches in 2020.
Carmen Smith, Head of International Markets, Visit Victoria, said, “Victoria is home to the largest Indian population in Australia, and every year we welcome more students, more visitors and more businesses from India. India and Victoria both have a strong cultural connection in terms of food, art, culture and sports. Victoria can be called ‘Australia’s events Capital’ or ‘Sports Mecca’ as it is home to an extensive sports and cultural events calendar, including the Australian Open, Grand Prix and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.”
The Indian market has been very exciting for Visit Victoria. Till December 2017, we had around 1,44,200 Indian tourists, while our financial year ends in June, said Smith. “Our target was to achieve 8 per cent growth from India while currently we are growing at over 22 per cent. Therefore, we have been very excited about the growth prospects from India.”
Indian tourists have been visiting Victoria for various purposes including leisure holiday, business, visiting friends or relatives (VFR). Around 51 per cent of the visitor expenditure from Indian visitors came from the education sector. The VFR segment recorded 72,000 Indian visitors to Victoria from India.
