More funds for India market
Indian visitors to South Australia have now crossed the 10,000 mark, prompting the tourism board to allocate a budget of close to 5cr for the market.
With an aim to build awareness about the region and grow arrivals from India and corresponding spends on their visits, the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) has earmarked a budget of AUD 1 million or close to ` 5 crore for the India market for 2016-2017. Dana Urmonas, Regional Director, Southeast Asia & India, SATC, says, “Previously, we had no budget for India. But this has been our first year of having a significant one that we can spend on marketing activities.”
Part of this will go towards co-op agreements with key travel agents to ensure that South Australia is part of their itineraries. With July as its new Financial Year, SATC has just been reviewing its agreements and has renewed partnerships with Thomas Cook, Flight Shop and Mercury Travels for B2C market and Ottila for its B2B market. “They are key to us as they hit smaller agents and this helps us spread out. Our main focus remains Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. We want to be focused on major markets for now as we are still new,” she adds.
SATC is mainly targeting students and the VFR segments followed by affluent families, DINK couples and, of course, honeymooners. Urmonas adds, “We had a bit of a blip in numbers but that was because of the India-Pakistan cricket match that saw a huge spike. But a quick scan of figures over three years shows that we have been growing. We recorded 10,000 Indians visitors for the year ending March 2016 who spent close to AU$18 million during their stay.” With the announcement of the three-year multiple-entry visa for Indians, the number of visitors to Australia is expected to go up significantly.
Our main focus remains Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. We want to be focused on major markets for now as we are still new