19% increase in Indian visitors to Australia

There were 26,100 visitors from India during December 2015, an increase of 15.5 percent over December 2014. This was the highest ever visitation in any single month from India to Australia. The total arrivals for the calendar year 2015 were 233,100, an increase of 18.6 per cent over 2014. This makes India the 8th largest inbound market for arrivals for the year 2015. In the year ending December 2015, 68 per cent of Indian visitors visited Australia for leisure (158,500). Other visitors travelled for business (26,400), short-term education (14,800) and other purposes (33,500). Leisure visitors are on holiday (60,500) or visiting friends and relatives (98,000).
The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) is forecasting 245,000 visitors from India for Jun 2015 – Jul 16, a 12 per cent increase over 2014-15. Arrivals from India are expected to perform well with an average annual financial year growth rate of 7.2 per cent through to the financial year 2021-22.
For the year 2015, Indian visitors contributed over A$ 1.1 billion to the Australian economy, an increase of 38 per cent over the previous year. India is the 10th largest source market in terms of expenditure. Average spend for Indian visitors was A$ 5,185.
For the year 2015, Indian visitors spent a total of 14 million nights in Australia, an increase of 38 per cent over 2014.
Australia is targetting Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore among India’s primary markets and Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad under secondary market.

Participants in the Aussie Specialist Program are all identified as strongly promoting and developing Australia as a holiday destination. As of December 2015, ASP figures were as below:
Total qualified ASP agents: 2,500
As of December 2015, agents under the Preferred Agency Scheme (PAS) run in collaboration with Department of Immigration and Protection (DIBP) were as below:
Total agencies participating: 87
Total active agents: 163
Tourism 2020 Potential