Tourism Australia To Use Indian Programme Template Globally

Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai

India recently made history by becoming a benchmark for the international roll out of the Aussie Preferred Specialist Programme. This programme was introduced in India about eight months ago to create a niche of travel agents committed to understanding and selling Australia by undergoing comprehensive product training, after which they will be privileged to quicker turnaround in visa application processing.

The Department of Immigration for Australia cited India as an impressive pilot, which it will use for launching the programme in other markets where visa application is still manually done. According to Maggie White, regional manager (South and Southeast Asia) of Tourism Australia, "The Preferred Aussie Specialist Programme was as much a confidence booster for Indian travel agents as it is an endorsement of their commitment to Australia. It ordinarily takes about four days to process the visas but for Preferred Aussie Specialists, the turnaround time is a day." The template will now be used by Australia's department of immigration in markets like Eastern Europe, Middle East and South America.

There are presently 149 agents from over 65 travel agencies that are registered under the scheme in 15 cities. What sets them apart from the Aussie Specialist Programme is the additional responsibilities and onus to give guarantee for their clients. They also have a comprehensive understanding of the documentation procedures.

Australia's tourism ministry also announced the launch of an emerging markers strategy for India and China to look at the supply and demand factors. While China faces hindrances in terms of language and availability of rooms, the main issue in India is cultural sensitivity. The committee has been set up to look at such emerging markets as tourism from these countries increases rapidly.

For instance, Tourism Australia has organised a slew of activities in the Indian market; an Australian Festival across all Shoppers Stop stores, a visit by Fran Bailey, Australian Minister for Small Business and Tourism to showcase growing interest and commitment in the India market.

Also, Tourism Australia hosted 123 travel industry representatives from 18 cities in India to Goa for the India Travel Mission 2005 who met 41 Australian sellers for the two-day mission.

Indian outbound to Australia has simultaneously risen by 40 per cent between 2003 and 2005. Bailey said that Australia's overall approach to the Indian market was to set the foundations to generate sustainable high yield growth from a developing market. The Australian government is also taking a strategic approach to the sustainable growth of the Indian market with the newly-launched Emerging Markets Strategy, which aims to develop Australia's share of new and emerging markets by addressing impediments to growth and fostering sustainable tourism experiences.