Gold Coast to Host Indian Travel Agent Famil

One hundred of India’s top selling travel agents of Australian holidays will visit the Gold Coast in August as part of Tourism Australia’s six-day India Mega Famil and Workshop.

Tourism Australia Managing Director, Geoff Buckley said, “India has been a fast growing market for Australian tourism and the number of Indian travellers visiting Australia has more than doubled over the past five years.”

In 2008 there was a 22% increase in Indian visitors to Australia worth around half a billion dollars to the economy.

“The fact that Australia is considered a premium destination for Indian travellers is helping the market to withstand current global economic factors – so the timing of the travel agents’ visit is perfect,” Mr Buckley added.

“Having the opportunity to experience Australia first-hand and meet with our industry will also better equip these key travel agents to sell our tourism experiences to their customers back in India – and ultimately delivering more travel business for Australia.”

According to Mr Buckley, Australia is especially popular with Indian honeymooners and families and the Gold Coast is often top of their list of places to visit.

“Indian travellers really enjoy the combination of our outdoor lifestyle, food and shopping experiences and through Tourism Australia’s activities we are getting the message to potential travellers why Australia is great place to visit,” Mr Buckley said.

Tourism Australia opened an office in India last year to help capture the growth opportunities of the India market, which is forecast to grow 14.2% through to 2017 to become Australia's 5th largest tourism market.

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