Australia has extra ordinary nature including one of the most famous World Heritage areas in the Great Barrier Reef. Then we have unusual animals - the Marsupials, the Platypus, the Kangaroos, the Koalas. You've also got sport- whether it's cricket or the Olympics. So all these elements create the appeal for Australia. All the research we've done shows that the aspiration and interest for Australia is very high and that is what makes it a popular destination.

How many travellers visit Australia every year and what percentage of traffic to Australia is from India?
Last year Australia had over 5 million visitors. The largest source of visitation is from New Zealand which exceeded 1 million because of its proximity, followed by Japan which was about 700000, followed by U.K. as the number of VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) visitors is very high due to our long term association with U.K. as well as for immigration. USA is fourth in the list, followed by China and Singapore in fifth and sixth place. From Singapore we had 265000 arrivals last year into Australia. The arrivals from India last year was 68000. What's interesting about India is that the growth in terms of percentage arrivals from India has been in double digit. This past year ending July the growth has been 30% if you compare to last year's figures. India is definitely an emerging market.This year we are looking at about 78000. If we continue at the rate at which we are growing it is likely to exceed that target. The forecast of growth this year that we are looking at is around 17%.

What are the initiatives planned by Australia to get more visitors in the coming year?
Probably the most amazing initiative is on the visa side in conjunction with the Department of Immigration and the the introduction of the Preferred Aussie Specialist Agency Programme. In the last 4 weeks we have rolled out the e-visas in India which enables genuine travellers to get visitors visas into Australia in a matter of few minutes. So these new initiatives on the visa side gives confidence to the agents to sell Australia. On the marketing side, we are working with some of the big tour operators and Qantas and we have a marketing campaign. Most first time visitors to Australia generally visit the East Coast and do the Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane circuit at times either adding Melbourne or Cairns

Which are the other regions worth visiting to entice travellers from India to visit Australia more than once?
I think it's a combination of factors. The first time visitors to Australia would like to see the key icons just as a first time visitor to London would like to go and see the Buckingham Palace and so on. We accept that the first time visitor to Australia would like to visit the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Bridge and the families, they would like to go to the Gold Coast region and visit the theme parks which are very popular especially amongst Indian visitors. Gold Coast is a very strong brand. What we find out is that there are many new places which a visitor likes to explore like Tasmania, the Northern Territory with Uluru and Ayers Rock is also worth looking at, In addition to that, you have the regional areas which surround the city like the Hunter Valley, the Blue Mountains, Woolongong, Philip Island for the Penguins and also the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns. Australia also offers some of the most spectacular Self Drive experiences especially the Great Southern Touring Route and also area around Perth and the Western Australia Region. You also have the vineyards at Barossa Valley near Adelaide and also places like Port Douglas which is very interesting place for honeymooners as well as families.

What is the percentage of repeat visitors to Australia from India and besides leisure travellers, what are the other categories of visitors that come into Australia?
The percentage of repeat visitors from India is still quite low but it is gradually increasing especially the VFR market as well as the students from India who come to study and you have their friends and relatives too who want to visit Australia. Then there is the Immigration from India which is the second largest into Australia after U.K and this segment has really grown in the last couple of years.

How has the MICE market grown and what are the innovative strategies you intend to introduce to attract a larger number of the MICE segment?
It has definitely grown and we have seen more and more Corporate Firms bringing in incentive groups into Australia. We are now on the list of companies who have done the incentive to South East Asia several times and now are looking at newer destination and Australia seems to be a good alternative for them and particularly with direct flights from Mumbai to Sydney on Qantas, it makes Australia that much more closer.

Which are the famous icons of Australia from the tourism perspective?
There are quite a few- The Opera House in Sydney, the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef and of course the animals - especially the Kangaroos and the Koalas.

What is the potential of special interest tours within Australia?
All of this comes under the Event Tourism and sports is quite big out there with the recently concluded Commonwealth Games which was a huge success. Then we have the cricket at the MCG in Melbourne or the Adelaide Oval, the Formula 1 in Melbourne and it all depends on the maturity of the market. In case of India, when we had the one day cricket series last year, we saw some incentive groups using cricket as an event to make it more memorable and cricket is undoubtedly one of the popular events particularly out of India.

What is the best time to visit Australia and how do you plan taking Australia up the ladder as far as the preferred destination in the world is concerned?
Australia is a year round destination- When it is winter in India, its summer in Australia and November to January is a good time particularly the South of Australia. When it is the peak summer holiday year, the weather is absolutely fantastic in places like Cairns, the Northern Territory- even Sydney is cooler in winter and has a pretty mild winter. In winter, one can go skiing in several places between Victoria and Sydney especially in the Snowy Mountains area. The best time for a skiing holiday is probably between mid-June till end of September.

What is the advantage to the traveller to plan an itinerary for Australia using the services of a preferred Aussie Specialist Agent?
It is the expertise of the agent- they can tailor an itinerary as per the clients needs and they are well equipped to assist their clients in choosing the itinerary as per their interests, time and budget.

Which is your favourite destination in Australia and in India?
When I go back to Australia, I probably tend to spend time with my family and it doesn't really bother me whether I move between the city and the country. My hometown is Melbourne and I tend to move around Melbourne and its environs, especially as I am closer to my family. I have moved all around Australia and during my last visit I spent some time in the Northern Territory region and the extraordinary colours out there are simply astounding, the contrasts of the Outback with the blues of the sky and the reds of the earth is simply spectacular combined with the very sort of grey greenish vegetation. On the coast, there is spectacular beach life as Australia has got a very long coastline which runs through almost all our territories.

One of the most amazing holidays that I ever had was trekking in Ladakh which was two years ago. With India there is so much of diversity. I was in Sunderbans last year and we tracked the pugmarks and the whole environment tourism related experience that I had was quite extraordinary. I have been to Pondicherry, to Ahmedabad, I stayed in Rajasthan in some of the palaces up there, I rode camels too. I have been to Kerala on a number of occasions and there is great diversity in India and I must add that whenever I finish with my job and whenever I intend to do India extensively, it would take at least 6 months to do India.

On your personal side how long have you been associated with Tourism Australia and what challenges have you faced as a Regional Manager and how do you overcome these challenges?
I have been with TA(Tourism Australia) for over 17 years- I have done four different roles with TA. I have had the most amazing career opportunities with TA from when I first started with TA, I came from a private enterprise and I have been a great traveller as well and having been in travel industry and with the travelling that I had done as a backpacker, I brought in lots of my personal experience into TA. After having been in Special Interest Products which was almost 10 to 15 years ago, when things like Eco-tourism, Sports Tourism and Cultural Tourism were first been thought of, it was an exciting pioneering sort of period. Then I was working with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Working Strategy and then I was Regional Manager for South and South East Asia and recently I have been promoted as stand-alone General Manager for South and South East Asia as well as the Gulf Countries.

In terms of the challenges faced as the Regional Manager - sure there have been many. However, the most exciting thing is that I have worked with the most extraordinary group of people. I am very fortunate in terms of the team that I have had right from South and South East Asia - from India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. They've all been locals, Indians in India, Malays in Malaysia and so on. It's such a privilege to work with people who don't have Australia as their country of origin but yet have the passion that these employees and/or organizations have adopted. It's a great delight of just having the energy that they exude towards Australia.

In terms of challenges, I always pondered and believed there's nothing that a good night's sleep doesn't fix and you often think the same things in a different way the next morning. A sense of humor is very important in the kind of work you do. I am also a person who greatly believes in exercise - in fact, I am a gym junkie and I think that also helps manage stress and keep things in perspective. I also believe that this whole work and life balance is extremely important and you should give your best at work and at the same time you don't work your whole life. You must learn to develop other interests. I try and live that. The tourism and hospitality industry is not an emergency industry like hospitals and medical where you are always dealing with crisis. Tourism is all about selling dreams and we must all learn to live up to that.

Lastly, your message to readers
People looking for a different experience in a country that they've heard about and read about, Australia offers you that opportunity that shouldn't be missed. We can certainly offer a variety of holiday experiences and we look forward to welcoming you to Australia, a country with great diversity.

Maggie White who until 15th September 2006 was the Regional Manager was responsible for the South and Southeast Asia region for marketing Tourism Australia for 5 major markets - Singapore, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Indonesia. Recently she has also been given the portfolio to handle the Gulf Countries and has been promoted to the post of General Manager. Based in Singapore, Maggie is ably assisted by her team of 16 staff members in four offices and is responsible for increased visitor arrival growth thru customer and trade marketing in the region.

With over 19 years in the tourism industry including 16 years with Tourism Australia, Maggie led the implementation of the Australian Tourist Commission's Olympic Games Global Tourism Strategy, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared a role model for future host countries and as a result generated over $1 billion worth of additional exposure for Australia.

The Indian arm of Tourism Australia is handled by Abhilasha Jain, Manager-India for Tourism Australia. Abhilasha has been successful in increasing the network of Aussie Specialist Agents network across India and she liaises with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to implement the Preferred Agency Scheme.

• The visitor arrival to Australia is expected to grow by 17 percent to 79495 visitors from India in 2006
• The average annual growth expected out of India in the next ten years is going to be at an annual growth rate of 15.6 percent till the year 2015.
• In 2005, there were 3.2 million nights stay in Australia by visitors from India
• Indians have the highest length of stay for leisure travel amongst all Asian countries that visit Australia with an average of 19 nights against the global average of 21 nights.

Business Tourism Australia launches Platinum Australia

Platinum Australia is a quality one stop shop initiative perfect for corporate clients, corporate travel agents, incentive companies and event companies in India which offers the best of Australia in terms of corporate meetings, incentives and VIP leisure information, products and itineraries. Mr Peter Colahan, CEO of Business Tourism Australia adds that the key objectives of Platinum Australia is to convert the pent up interest in Australia as the destination of choice for their business tourism initiatives. Their website www.businesstourismaustralia.com.au is specifically aime at the corporate client showcasing suggestive incentive and meeting itineraries and post touring options suitable for the corporate market. Business Tourism Australia is closely working with Tourism Australia, Austrade (Australia's International Trade Promotion Agency) and Qantas Airways to target corporate clients, incentive companies, event management companies and corporate travel agents in India thru Platinum Australia.

1. Value for money due to favourable exchange rate of 35 INR to 1 AUD vis-à-vis currencies like Euro and US Dollar
2. Wide options of cuisine including Indian and vegetarian cuisine
3. Vast and diverse holiday experiences
4. Australians are warm, welcoming and friendly in nature
5. Fast track visa processing in comparison to Europe and American continents
6. There are over 132 agencies in India located in 25 key cities who are Aussie Specialist Agents thus enabling you to get expert advice on the destination.

Eating in a restaurant or café; shopping, going to the beach and markets; visiting wild life parks, zoos, aquariums, theme parks as well as chartering boats, cruises and ferries to visit the nearby islands.

• New South Wales- Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House
• Victoria - Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Penguins at Philip Island
• Queensland - Surfers Paradise, Great Barrier Reef
• Capital Territory - Parliament House in Canberra
• Northern Territory - Uluru
• Tasmania - Cradle Mountain

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