Australia’s Mantra for Winning Indian Tourists: ‘Easiest’ Visa Process

In 2024, Indian tourists to Australia increased 12% year-on-year, reaching 443,000 travelers, while spending by Indian tourists increased 17%. Even as Tourism Australia did not share an official target, Nishant Kashikar, country manager – India and Gulf at Tourism Australia, said the country aims to continue this double digit growth momentum. 

The number of nights Indian travelers spent in Australia also increased by almost 34% last year. “We are seeing Indians traveling beyond key gateway cities,” Kashikar told Skift, citing examples of destinations like Tasmania and Canberra, which were earlier unheard of.

“The strength of the bilateral relations between Australia and India is at an all time-high, the aviation capacity is not a challenge, and getting a visa to travel to Australia is not a problem,” he said.

According to Kashikar the simplified visa process would surely help to push tourism numbers. 

“The Australia visa these days is the easiest and simplest thing. It requires no biometrics, no personal interviews, and no physical submission of any documents, including your passport. The entire process is managed digitally,” he said. 

With countries looking to attract Indians by relaxing visa norms, the online visa process can act as a driver for Indian travelers to Australia as against the visa processes for other long-haul destinations such as Europe, UK, U.S., and Canada. 

Air Connectivity: The expanding air connectivity between India and Australia is also a tourism booster. 

“The growth that we have achieved out of the Indian market is primarily because of the increase in direct capacity on the route with both Air India and Qantas commencing direct flights. We have more than doubled the capacity than what we had in 2019, so the aviation access has improved,” he said. He is also expecting the new aircraft ordered by Indian carriers — IndiGo and Air India — to lead to a boom. 

While direct connectivity is crucial, one-stop connections between India and Australia also throw in a host of options. “There are multiple options to fly to Australia. Pre-Covid 90% of the traffic from India to Australia was one-stop via Southeast Asian carriers, and now, almost 75% of the traffic is one-stop. We have a great relationship with airlines, such as Malaysia Airlines, Cathay, Scoot, Thai Airways, AirAsia, VietJet, and SriLankan Airways,” he said. 

The codeshare agreements of Australian carriers with Indian airlines is also driving Indian travelers to explore beyond the gateway cities in Australia.

South Africa Rolls Out Phase 2 of Tour Operator Scheme

South Africa’s department of home affairs has rolled out the second phase of its Trusted Tour Operator Scheme (TTOS) in India and China. As part of the second phase, the country has invited applications from tour operators in India to join the initiative. In the first phase, which was launched in January this year, 2,000 additional tourists applied for visas to South Africa, according to an official statement from the country’s department of home affairs. 

TTOS is an initiative meant to solve visa issues for Indian and Chinese travelers. In this initiative, tour operators from the two countries are onboarded as a point of contact for Indian and Chinese travelers in their own countries. 

“The benefit of these trusted tour operators will be that Indian visitors and businesses will be able to go directly to one of these tour operators, who will in turn do the visa application on behalf of that individual or group,” South African Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said earlier. 

Along with this scheme, South Africa also established a dedicated portal where tour operators would be able to submit the visa applications. The country is working towards a turnaround of two to three days to let applicants know about the status of their visa application.

IHG Hotels Signs InterContinental Kasauli

IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed an InterContinental-branded property in Himachal Pradesh’s Kasauli. The 130-key resort is expected to open in 2029 and will aim to cater to leisure travelers, as well as weddings, meetings, incentives and corporate events. 

The company is looking to expand its presence in key leisure destinations across India, and has a Holiday Inn-branded resort under development in Kasauli as well. IHG’s 60-hotel strong developmental pipeline in India has exceeded its current operational portfolio of 47 properties across six brands. 

Last year, the company announced its plans to increase its operational portfolio in India to 100 hotels by 2029 by expanding in key cities. 

Cordelia Cruises to Get Two Vessels From Norwegian Cruise Line

Indian cruise line Cordelia Cruises has entered into an agreement with Norwegian Cruise Line for the transfer of Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun to Cordelia’s fleet. Cordelia is yet to announce the routes for these ships, but is looking to use them to expand to more ports across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, according to a release. 

Cruise tourism is expanding in India. In the 2023-24 fiscal, this segment reached its peak of 470,000 cruise tourists. Domestic tourists accounted for nearly 80% of this footfall. Last year, India also launched the ‘Cruise Bharat Mission,’ aimed at positioning the country as a cruise tourism hub. 

As part of this mission, the country is focusing on modernizing existing cruise infrastructure and building new destinations and terminals. India is expecting cruise tourists in India to reach 1 million by the end of March 2029. 

Ayatana Hospitality Launches Premium Membership Program

Experiential travel company Ayatana Hospitality has launched a premium membership program called Ayatana Circle. Partnering with Interval International, the membership program aims to offer personalized services, curated stays, and access to over 3,200 luxury properties across the world. 

Apart from Ayatana’s own properties in Coorg, Goa, and Ooty in India, members would have access to resorts such as Anantara Vacation Club Legian Bali, Marriott Vacation Club at The Empire Place in Bangkok, Grand Mercure Basildene Manor in Australia, Killarney Country Club in Ireland, Daytona Beach Resort & Conference Center in Florida, and more.

The program has four tiers — Gold, Diamond, Platinum, and Aetherium, with the membership duration and services varying for each tier. The services include priority bookings, premium upgrades, VIP concierge services, complimentary breakfasts, and private charters, the company said. 

Sterling Holiday Resorts Enters Punjab

Thomas Cook India’s wholly owned subsidiary Sterling Holiday Resorts has entered the state of Punjab. The company has opened Sterling Borderland Amritsar as part of Sterling’s “bleisure” model  to capture business as well as leisure travelers, according to CEO Vikram Lalvani. 

Sterling has a portfolio of over 60 properties in India. With the launch of this resort, the company is now present in 53 destinations across the country. 

The company has been accelerating its expansion. At the end of the December quarter in 2024, Sterling had 57 resorts across 48 locations, and it was adding an average of one hotel per month since mid-2023.