The lack of visibility of India as a potential tourism destination for Australians was identified by tour operators and other industry members as one of the key reasons of leisure tourism to India not reaching its full potential.

This came out at a recent industry event hosted by the Indian Consulate in Sydney in partnership with Australia India Travel & Tourism Council (AITTC).

Led by Phillip Boniface Co- Chairman & Treasurer, AITCC as the MC for the evening, there were presentations on tourism developments in India by Dr S Janakiraman, Consulate General of India, Sandip Hor Chairman AITTC and Irfan Malik, National Co- Chair, AIBC. Suggestions were made by the speakers for the industry to develop India as a venue for newer products like Destination Weddings, Business Conferences, Cricket Tours, River Cruising, Wildlife Safari and Golf and Medical Tourism. While Bennet Stephen from Air India spoke about the direct flights between India and Australia, Ichcha Dhupia from Eastbound Tours in India and Claudia Wolfe from Tikka Tours outlined some of the exotic travel experiences available in India.

The highlight of the evening of the evening was an interactive panel discussion to on various issues affecting growth of leisure travel to India from this part of the world. Moderated by Lisa Maroun, a well-known name in the industry, the panel included Dean Long CEO AFTA, Thushara Liyanrachchi representing the Taj Group of hotels, Bennet Stephen, Air India, Eric Finlay Adventure World and Cheryl Ryan from 123 Travel.

The key recommendation from the panel was to increase destination knowledge through multiple promotional initiatives. In this context some of the attendees, requested AITTC to recommence their 'Know India Better' seminars which during the pre-covid time was a successful avenue for the industry to know more about tourism developments in the country.