For tennis aficionados

The rise of the Indian sports fan has never been all-encompassing. Visit Victoria aims to attract impressive footfalls from India through the Australian Open 2019.

TT Bureau

India and Australia share a strong connect with cricket. But this could change over the years to include not just this national sport of India but also others like tennis and Grand Prix. Celia Ho, Regional Manager—South and South East Asia, Visit Victoria, says, “We see India as a strong growth market for sports tourism with huge potential. We have noticed that the Indian traveller has evolved and is looking for niche experiences. They have also started planning their long-haul holidays around iconic events and so the Australian Open or cricket tournaments do see increased amounts of Indian footfalls.”

While Victoria, known as the Events Capital of Australia, will welcome Indians to the India-Australia Boxing Day Test in December this year and the ICC World Twenty20 in 2020, it is also hopeful to get some numbers from India for events apart from cricket. Through the year, it plays host to some iconic sporting events from the Spring Racing Carnival, Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park in January.

VFR comprises almost 50 per cent of our Indian travellers currently. India is our fourth largest inbound market for Victoria in visitor numbers

“To ensure traction across all markets, we will be preparing packages and promotional activities around several key matches of the Australian Open. The packages will target all range of travellers – be it budget or luxury. India and Victoria both have a strong connection in terms of sports and there is a great potential of sports tourism originating out of India,” Ho adds.

India records the strongest growth in terms of visitors to Victoria with 1,44,200 Indian visitors a year ending December 2017, a growth of 22.6 per cent. “We have also noticed a prominent increase in Indian visitor expenditure with US$ 392 million, a growth of 22.3 per cent. Indian visitor nights in Victoria have also recorded a growth of 14 per cent. VFR being our strongest segment, comprises almost 50 per cent of our Indian travellers currently. We are happy to announce that India is our fourth largest inbound market for Victoria in visitor numbers,” she adds.

Promoting the Australian Open in India is Melbourne-based Safir Tours, the only inbound tour operator appointed to sell packages with match tickets in the Indian market. Nayaz Noor, CEO, Safir Tours, says, “Visitors can combine an ODI match between India and Australia at the MCG on January 18 with a tennis match on January 19, 2019 at Rod Laver Arena. It will be a rare opportunity for the sports lover!”

India is an important market as we have star players like Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri and others who could be out here playing

It sells packages of two nights with match tickets for two sessions. “For this, we are only targeting the B2B market in India. However, we are reaching out to tennis academies and associations in India to generate interest. They will have to book through their travel agents. India is an important market for this since we do have star players like Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri and several players who could be out here playing. Their fans need to come out here to support them. We are pushing this pretty much pan India through key agencies,” Noor adds.

Speaking about the numbers he expects to achieve for the Australian Open 2019 from the India market, he says, “It’s difficult to say as we know the numbers from India last year were dismal. If we are able to get even 150-200 from India to witness these matches, we would consider it a great start.”

 Culture Vulture

• Melbourne will also play host to an Indian cultural event – the first-ever cricket community and cultural festival that will take place outside the MCG during the Test Match