Advocacy and storytelling is the cornerstone of our marketing: Tourism Australia’s Nishant Kashikar

luxury; it is a way of life. As soon as they start earning, young Indians are taking their first international trip. There is also a shift in attitude.

As a nation, we are moving towards a ‘splurging economy’. Younger generations want to spend on dining, shopping, and travelling. Families have fewer children, and so they are not spending on cars or houses, only on experiences.

Also, Indians are spending on experiences like a cricket match, a concert, a food festival. Finally, Indians have embraced digitization of services where anything can be delivered in 10-30 minutes. So, whenever you see a good deal on airfares, you are tempted to buy a flight to a top destination.

We have launched a campaign with MakeMyTrip with deals on airfares. All of these trends are fuelling the boom in outbound travel from India.We are really working on the aviation front. We had eight direct flights from India to Australia; today, as we speak, there are 22 direct flights.

By October, we should be at 27 flights. We are working with both Indian and Australian carriers. We are definitely ensuring that we keep driving that aviation capacity.Also, visas.

You can have a great campaign and world-class events, but if you make entry difficult, all your efforts may go down the drain. Australia is among the few western countries that have a fully digitized visa application process. Their visas are processed much faster, at less than 2 weeks.

You don’t have to stand in long queues, go in for biometrics, or require a personal interview. Your passport stays with you. We have grown from being the 12th largest to the fifth largest destination for Indian tourists.