John Chisolm had been saving his Qantas points for over 30 years. So when the airline told him his stash was about to expire, he flew into action. Literally. He booked a flight on a partner airline and assumed the trip would keep his 107,000 Qantas points active.
How Australia Is Capitalizing from India’s Tourism Growth
26.09.2023 - 03:59 / skift.com / Amrita Ghosh / Qantas Airways
Last week, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green said India became the first country to return to and surpass pre-pandemic levels of travel to Australia.
Skift caught up with Nishant Kashikar, country manager of India and Gulf at Tourism Australia, to talk about the factors aiding tourism growth from India.
Here’s what we found out…
Indian Travelers Spend: The amount Indian tourists spent during a holiday in Australia is up by 16% as compared to pre-Covid level.
“Indians spent $1.3 billion (Rs 11,000 crore) during the year, up 16% over pre-Covid levels. In terms of spend, India has now become the fifth largest market, from the pre-pandemic levels of the sixth largest one,” said Kashikar.
Increase in Aviation Capacity: The 3x rise in direct weekly flights on the India-Australia route compared to pre-Covid level has been a major contributing factor to the growth of India as a source market for Australia.
Compared to the seven direct weekly flights between the countries, Kashikar said there are now 22 direct weeklies on the route, including the Qantas Airways’ Bengaluru-Sydney flight launched last year.
The current schedule of 22 flights is also likely to increase to 25 flights per week from the first week of October due to Qantas’ expansion of its capacity out of Bengaluru and Delhi.
Easing of Visa Norms
Visitor Profiles: Among Indian travelers visiting Australia, Kashikar revealed 61% were by friends and family, 14% were on holiday, and 9% were on business trips. Employment and education had a 7% and 5% share respectively.
Online travel company Ixigo has rolled out its free cancellation feature, Ixigo Assured, for select international flight bookings. The feature allows a full refund of fees for cancellations made by travelers, for any reason at a starting price of $7.20 per passenger.
Earlier, Ixigo Assured was available only for domestic flight bookings at a starting price point of $4.80.
How Does it Work? Ixigo Assured users will be eligible for a full refund upon cancellation of their bookings up to 24 hours before their scheduled departure time, following which Ixigo initiates the refunds instantly.
Booming Outbound Travel: International leisure flight bookings from India increased by 40% for trips between June and August compared to the same period in 2022, according to RateGain. A Nangia Andersen report forecasts that India’s outbound tourism is expected to reach $44.7 billion by 2032.
Free cancellation products like Ixigo Assured further boosts outbound travelers from India, which is fast becoming the new China for international travel.
IndiGo and British Airways have announced a new codeshare agreement through which British Airways will add more routes to the
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