Cultural insights help tourism businesses welcome Indian visitors

India is Australia’s fastest recovering international tourism market. It is currently our second largest market after New Zealand.

Despite international borders being closed until February, 303,000 Indian short-term visitors still arrived in Australia in 2022. This was 76% of the corresponding pre-COVID figure (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023, Overseas Arrivals and Departures, released 16 February 2023). Total visitor spend for the year to September 2022 recovered to $1.3 billion, 74% of pre-pandemic levels. (Source: Tourism Research Australia, International Visitor Survey, Year ending September 2022).

Australian airlines are also strengthening ties with India. Qantas now offers direct routes to Bengaluru and Delhi. A codeshare arrangement with Indian domestic operator IndiGo connects travellers to many more Indian destinations.

Getting your business ready to welcome Indian visitors

Since 2019, the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has offered the ‘India Host’ market specialist training program. The program aims to help tourism businesses become culturally aware when interacting with Indian visitors.

‘India Host’ was developed and delivered by Garry Burns and Himanshi Munshaw Luhar. Burns is a 30-year veteran of the tourism industry. He was among the first Australian tourism operators to enter the Chinese and Indian markets.

‘For me, it was learning as you go,’ Burns says. ‘There were no tools to make it easier. Now an operator can do this program and be confident of what to expect.’

Munshaw Luhar began working with Australian tourism in India in the late 1990s. She teamed up with Burns about 2 years ago.

‘We want to help people understand their Indian customers,’ she says. ‘We also want to give them the tools to provide a more pleasurable experience.’

Growing market with huge potential

Munshaw Luhar says there is huge potential in the Indian market.

‘This is a market that was in double-digit growth before COVID,’ she says. ‘There’s always going to be a high number of VFR [visiting friends and relatives] considering the number of people of Indian origin who live in Australia.

‘It’s a market you can’t ignore.’

Australia’s education market also attracts many Indian students, who contribute to the visitor economy by:

• spending on travel
• attracting visiting friends and relatives
• participating in the visitor economy workforce.

‘They might come as students, but then they become integrated into the workforce. Their parents come to visit, at least once for graduation, and otherwise for holidays. That also brings a stream of visitors into Australia,’ Munshaw Luhar says.

About the ‘India Host’ program

‘India Host’ is available to all tourism operators as 3 self-directed online modules:

• Market and Culture Ready – understanding the Indian market, key travel characteristics and trends. A snapshot of the country, culture and society.
• Product and Service Ready – becoming product-ready and tailoring offerings to meet the service expectations of Indian travellers.
• Trade Ready – understanding purchasing patterns, the Indian travel distribution system and trade marketing opportunities.

Each module takes 1 hour to complete.

As well as the e-learning modules, participants receive:

• a detailed handbook and business planning templates
• access to dedicated discussion boards and community pages for ongoing support
• a digital badge to support marketing.

Words of advice

• Personal connections are important. Tourism businesses need to persevere and build long-term connections with the market.
• Making an effort to understand the Indian culture will reap results.

Learn more

ATEC offers a range of specialist training programs in its ‘Host’ series, including:

• Muslim Host
• Indonesia Host
• Japan Host
• Korea Host
• Accessible and Inclusive Host.

These help tourism operators better meet the expectations of travellers from key inbound markets and support diversification – a key theme of the THRIVE 2030 Strategy.

Learn more about ATEC’s ‘Host’ training series.