There's Nothing Like Australia

Indian nationals living in Australia and those who have visited the country will star in a new advocacy campaign to make Australia the holiday destination of choice amongst Indian travellers.

Australia has highlighted the power of sport tourism, over 300,000 visitors recently flocked to Melbourne to witness the country’s top motor sport event, the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
This was an ideal opportunity to showcase Melbourne to a global audience, as leafy Albert Park was transformed into a racing hub with a sleek 5.3km circuit, against the backdrop of the city’s skyline.

An Indian restaurant owner living in Sydney and a married Indian couple who travelled to Australia for their honeymoon will share their own personal views of Australia in a series of television, print and online adverts which launches this week across India.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said: “India is the world’s tenth largest economy and has the second largest population in the world. It’s also the largest English speaking country in the world, all of which make it a very important market for us and one we’re very keen to see grow using campaigns such as this. “Word of mouth can be very powerful in when it comes to making holiday decisions and advocacy is a key component in our strategy to market Australia overseas as a preferred holiday destination. This particular campaign aims to demonstrate Australia’s warmth and friendliness through the eyes of Indians who have settled here or visited on holiday.”

Commenting on the new campaign, Australia's High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese said:  "This campaign showcases the excellent tourism opportunities that await Indian travellers in Australia.  We wanted people to hear about Australia directly from recent visitors, and from people who have chosen to build their lives in Australia.  These authentic Indian voices speak about the many exciting experiences that await you in Australia."

The Indian advocates sharing their Australian experiences in the campaign are:

• Chef Vikrant Kapoor, owner of Zaaffran restaurant in Sydney
• Married couple Divya Palat and Aditya Hitkari – theatre personalities who travelled to Australia for their honeymoon. Aditya is a former MTV VJ and Divya runs her own production company.

Work brought Vikrant to Australia many years ago and is now his home. “This campaign has given me a fantastic opportunity to share my story with fellow Indians back home and tell them more about this beautiful country. This is the place that has helped me achieve my dreams and has helped me create my identity. I have witnessed multiculturalism at its best here and it is easily one of the things I admire the most about Australia,” Vikrant said.

Divya added: “We first came to Australia on our honeymoon and have returned on numerous occasions. From the first time we set foot in Australia, we fell in love with the country. It has everything you would want in a holiday destination and we are delighted to share our wonderful memories with others and tell them what a great place Australia is to visit.” 

The television commercials will include amateur video footage taken by Kapoor, Divya and Aditya, as well as destination clips from Tourism Australia’s own film archives.

India is currently ranked 11th in terms of international visitor arrivals. During the twelve month period ending 31 December, 2010 a total of 138,700 Indians visited Australia, an increase of 11 per cent compared to the same period the previous year. 14,700 Indians visited Australia during December 2010, a 17 per cent increase on the same month in 2009.

Tourism Australia has identified India in its recently released 2010 Tourism Industry Potential report as one of the key markets which will help drive the future growth of the Australian tourism industry. It is anticipated that the country will generate between $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion of incremental growth in overnight expenditure by 2020. The Potential is a new strategic approach to improve the industry’s performance and competitiveness and was unveiled at the inaugural Australian Tourism Directions Conference held in Canberra in November 2010.