Air India’s impending direct flights to Sydney and Melbourne is likely to boost tourism prospects in Australia. Enhanced connectivity and availability of more tickets will help secure a fair share of Indian tourists expected to travel abroad by 2020.
Indian state-run carrier, Air India is planning to resume direct flights to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia after a gap of more than decade and half. The news has created much interest in not only the aviation sector but also in the tourism industry, with Australia expecting that the availability of air tickets on direct flights will boost tourism to Australia.
“The key to unlocking India’s long-term tourism potential is improved air access and capacity. Securing directs flights to Australia is critical to securing a share of the 50 million Indian tourists expected to travel overseas by 2020,” said Tourism Australia’s Managing Director Andrew McEvoy.
From 29 Aug, the Indian national airline will operate the daily services on a triangular route – Delhi-Sydney-Melbourne on four days of week and Delhi-Melbourne-Sydney flights on three. Those who wish to book tickets for the services will surely have enough options in a week.
As per reports, around 160,000 Indian tourists booked tickets for a visit to Australia in 2012. Australia hopes that the number of those hopping on flights will nearly double by 2020.
McEvoy believes that this direct flight service by AI offers a huge boost to the endeavour to cater to the expected additional demand of air tickets for Australia.
On its part, the Australian Government agency has already doubled its spending for marketing and advertising in India this year to educate and encourage more and more people to grab tickets on flights bound to Australia.
