Australia Sees A Surge In Applications For Tourist Visas

13 Oct 2012

There has been a surge in applications for tourist visas in Australia as the country experiences unprecedented demand from visitors.

Some six million tourist visas have been granted in the last year in what is regarded as a milestone in the revival of the Australian tourism market.

Australia’s traditional markets have been the UK, Ireland, Japan and the United States but it is Asian tourists that are leading the surge. There was a 6.5% increase in Asian arrivals contributing to a 1.2% increase overall. Chinese tourists accounted for a 15% increase while Taiwan recorded a 14% and Japan 7%.

Under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Tourism Australia and international airline Emirates intend to collectively spend up to A$14.3 million over the next three years on a range of joint marketing activities.

This will focus on some of Australia’s leading inbound visitor markets including the UK, Germany and New Zealand as well as France and Italy.

With much of the world in an economic slump, Australia’s continued resistance resulted in a strong Australian Dollar which weakened its appeal to international travellers and visitor visa numbers inevitably dropped.

However, as much of the world continues its road to economic recovery, many tourists are heading abroad once more, and once more, Australia is proving to be one of the most popular destinations.

McEvoy said Emirates has demonstrated a strong and growing commitment to the Australian market since it first started flying to country in 1996 and has been one of its most committed marketing partners.

He welcomed recently announced developments by Emirates which he believes will further improve inbound aviation access and capacity to Australia pointing to Emirates’ proposed commercial tie up with Qantas and the further expansion of its Australian network through a new direct service to Adelaide from next month and increased flying to Perth from December 2012.

Emirates currently operate 70 flights per week to Australia via its Dubai hub. These include 21 services to Sydney, 21 to Melbourne, 14 to Brisbane and 14 to Perth. This is planned to grow to 84 weekly by early 2013.

Source: AustraliaForum.com