NEW DELHI: Tension between Indians and Australians over racial attacks in Australia notwithstanding, India has witnesses a 29% surge in tourists arriving from Australia, official figures have revealed. These figures place India in the 10-most visited countries by Australians; with nearly 17,400 tourists coming to ‘Incredible India' from Down Under. That figure was just around 4,000 tourists at the turn of the millennium. “The number of Australians visiting India surged by 29 percent while the Philippines increased by 26 percent,” Australian Tourism minister Martin Ferguson said. Sources in the industry said that part of the boom was because Asian locations could provide high standards of accommodation and levels of service. “Asian destinations like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines have been investing in new accommodation and are able to provide high levels of service to visitors,” Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive of Australia John Lee said. Australia's Country Bureau of Statistics, which released the figures, said that in February this year more Australians visited either India or China than the time tested and preferred UK. He said that China, India and Thailand were the new preferred destinations for Australians. India already has a booming tourism industry being fueled by its own domestic tourists who visit various parts of the country as well as foreigners, mainly Europeans. However, more recently even Eastern Europeans and Central Asians are making a bee line for India. India already has an agreement going with BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in order to beef up tourism among member nations.
