Tourism Australia is delighted to be welcoming back travellers from Tamil Nadu , with borders now open for quarantine – free travel , for fully vaccinated visa holders.!
Chennai 12 April 2022 Tourism Australia is delighted to be welcoming back travellers from Tamil Nadu , with borders now open for quarantine – free travel , for fully vaccinated visa holders .
Australia has progressively been reopening its borders to fully vaccinated travellers , first allowing parents , then students and skilled visa holders , and now all visitors from 21st February 2022 .
Pre – Covid , India was Australia’s fastest growing inbound tourism market for three years
In 2019 , Australia welcomed almost 400,000 visitors from India and was the sixth most valuable market for spend , contributing over A $ 1.8 billion .
Tamil Nadu ranked number four for spend and arrivals , accounting for 29,000 visitors ( 8 % share ) and contributed A $ 140 Mn ( Rs 770 crore ) . Tourism Australia’s recent Consumer Demand Project research suggests that 1.8 Mn ( or 82 % ) out of 2.2 Mn High Value Travellers from India intend to visit Australia over the next two years . This demand is well complemented by the boost to direct aviation access between India and Australia with the commencement of direct flights by Qantas and Air India recent times . To further facilitate this demand , Qantas recently announced its first direct route between Australia and southern India , with non – stop flights between Sydney and Bangalore scheduled to commence from 14th September 2022 onwards . This is in addition to a codeshare agreement with IndiGo , which will expand Qantas ‘ reach across India . To encourage holiday visitors from India , the Department of Home Affairs launched the Visa Application Charge ( VAC ) waiver initiative , for those tourists whose visa to Australia has either expired or will expire between 20th March 2020 and 30th June 2022 . Visa applications can be lodged online as per a time and location best suited for the applicant and can easily be facilitated through electronic payment with the ability to check the status of the application online . An online application can also be completed by a third party such as a travel agent , with the applicant’s permission . Tourism Australia will also be collaborating with travel partners including MakeMyTrip , Thomas Cook , SOTC , Kesari Tours , Kulin Kumar Holidays , Travel Tours , Veena World and airline partners including Singapore Airlines , Malaysia Airlines , Air India and Qantas amongst others to encourage early bookings to Australia and influence Indian travellers to take an Australian holiday for the summer travel period . This is in addition to collaborations with local Premier Aussie Specialists , including Avocet , Baywatch , Footprint Holidays , Peekay , Pegasus and Pick Your Trail among others . Australia will also play host to the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup from 22nd October – 13th November this year , which presents a fantastic opportunity for Indian cricket loving tourists and business travellers to visit and enjoy an experience of the game and beyond .
