By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 15.09.2008 (IANS): As other international tourists give Australia a miss, Indian tourists are being lured to this harbour city of blue skies and scenic beaches with travel packages tailored specifically for the Indian market.

A high-level trade mission from the state of New South Wales (NSW) is in India this week to tap into the increasing number of Indians looking for overseas holidays.

Sydney has become one of the favourite destinations for Indian travellers, be it families, backpackers, honeymooners or business travellers. Indian holidaymakers find Sydney one of the cleanest, most user-friendly cities with some of the finest restaurants and beautiful vistas.

As many as 55,600 overnight visitors from India came to NSW in the year ending June 2008, an increase of 13.6 percent over the previous year. Visitors from India stay the longest of all international visitors to the state, averaging 40 nights and spending an impressive A$173 million in NSW alone.

“It’s a fast growing market. Sydney is such a great fit for our Indian visitors; they love our fantastic range of shops, particularly international designer brands, and our array of stunning sightseeing opportunities and dining experiences,” said Leslie Cassar, chairperson of Tourism NSW Board, who is leading the trade mission to India.

Several tourism operators, including the Bradman Museum of Cricket in the Southern Highlands as well as major attractions and accommodation such as BridgeClimb, Taronga Zoo, Sydney Showboats and Accor Asia Pacific, are in India from Sep 12 to 20 to showcase the best of NSW.

“We’ve designed round-trip itineraries from Sydney to take advantage of Indians’ love of cricket and nature. Features include Grand Pacific Drive, the Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk, Morton National Park and Bowral’s Bradman Museum of Cricket and Centennial Vineyards,” said Tourism Southern Highlands Executive Manager Steve Rosa, who is part of the trade mission travelling to New Delhi and Mumbai this week.

In recent years, several Bollywood films have been set in NSW, spurring travel interest in the state. Besides the superhit “Chak de India”, the other Indian films showcasing NSW sights include “Bachna Ae Haseeno”, “Heyy Babyy” and the India-Pakistani venture “Virsa”.

The World Heritage listed Blue Mountains, the sandy beaches of the long coastline, and internationally acclaimed wineries of the Hunter Valley have been popular with Indian visitors, who spent A$465 million in Australia during the past year.

As the Australian travel industry battles deterrents of a competitive dollar, limited capacity on international flights, surging oil prices and people becoming more conscious of leaving their carbon footprint on the planet, it is hoping tourists from Asia, which is forecast to be the fastest growing outbound travel region in the next decade, will help turn the tide of plummeting holidaymakers.

Indian visitors to Australia are expected to increase from 95,000 in 2007 to 440,000 in 2017, an average annual growth of 16.5 percent.

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