Launch of campaign to lure more Indian tourists to Australia

Australian destinations will this week be splashed across the television screens of millions of Indian households, with the Morrison Government today launching its campaign to lure more Indian tourists to next year’s ICC T20 World Cup.

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said Tourism Australia’s latest campaign was all about boosting visitation to both the women’s and men’s tournaments and raising Australia’s profile as a highly sought-after tourism destination among Indian tourists.

“Australia’s hosting of these two T20 World Cup tournaments has the potential to deliver huge benefits for our tourism industry and overall economy,” Minister Birmingham said.

“This campaign is all about encouraging Indian cricket lovers to book a ticket, pack their bags and head Down Under to experience the highs of world-class T20 cricket.

“Given India is our fastest growing tourism market and currently worth $1.8 billion to Australian tourism, the T20 World Cup provides an exciting opportunity for Australia to well and truly cash-in.

“This campaign is all about encouraging Indian cricket fans to watch a few games, but also travel beyond our major gateways and get out into our regions to explore the incredible tourism experiences on offer.”

“That’s why experiences such as skydiving in Cairns, hot air ballooning in our nation’s capital and exploring Uluru are all front and centre in this campaign, and will entice Indian travellers to spend an extra week or a few days here.”

Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said the campaign was all about celebrating our two country’s shared love of cricket.

“Cricket is undisputedly the national sport of India and we know from our research that over a quarter of high value Indian travellers are willing to travel to long haul destinations to attend cricket tournaments and other sporting events.

“By harnessing the excitement around this significant event, we hope to encourage more Indian fans to come and cheer on their women’s and men’s teams in stadiums across Australia next year.

“Major sporting events are known to be significant drivers of visitor demand, with around 16 per cent (or 1.4 million) of all international visitors reporting that they attended a sporting or cultural event while in Australia.

“Delivering more major international sporting events is a key part of our Governments Sport 2030 plan to grow Australia’s $12 billion sport industry and the 220,000 jobs it supports.”

The new campaign features voiceovers from renowned Indian cricket commentator and Friend of Australia ambassador Harsha Bhogle; Indian media personality and television anchor Shibani Dandekar; and Australian former cricketer Brett Lee.

The trio are heard commentating on what seems at first to be a cricket match but is in fact a beautiful showcase of Australia, with the footage taking the viewer on a journey to some of our country’s most iconic destinations.

It will run across television, digital and social media channels in India up until June 2020 to drive awareness for the tournaments during key booking periods for Indian travellers.

For the first time in its history, the T20 World Cup is being played as two standalone tournaments for women and men so as to maximise exposure for both events. Together they are expected to be attended by more than one million fans from around Australia and the world and deliver significant benefits to Australia’s $143 billion tourism industry.

The women’s tournament will kick off on Friday 21 February when Australia take on India at Sydney Showground Stadium, with the final to be held on Sunday 8 March – International Women’s Day – at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The men’s tournament will run from 18 October to 15 November 2020, with the 45 matches expected to be broadcast to two billion people.

The two tournaments will be contested across eight host cities: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

More information on the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is available at www.t20worldcup.com