Rise in number of Indians holidaying in Australia
March 12th, 2010 - 11:50 am ICT by IANSMelbourne, March 12 (IANS) There has been a 26 percent increase in Indians holidaying in Australia’s Victoria state in the year ending December 2009 as compared to the same period in 2008, reveals a survey that comes in the backdrop of a string of attacks on Indian students in this country.
State Tourism Minister Tim Holding said that more Indians than ever were holidaying in Victoria and added that the results were a “great achievement when you consider the negative media coverage from incidents involving Indian students”, The Age reported Friday.
The Tourism Research Australia survey released Thursday showed the number of Indians visiting Victoria rose 26 percent in the year ending December 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.
The study showed that a record 50,700 tourists visited Victoria, contributing about $257 million to its economy.
“There are a lot of complex factors at work in terms of our relationship with India. Obviously the student violence issue…has had some negative impacts in the (Indian) community. I hope that we are past the worst of that,” Premier John Brumby was quoted as saying.
There have been a spate of attacks on Indians in Australia, with one of them proving fatal. Nitin Garg was fatally stabbed Jan 2 in this city when he was walking to work.
- Victoria is Indian visitors favourite holiday visit - Mar 12, 2010
- Gillard did nothing on attacks on Indians: WikiLeaks - Mar 30, 2011
- Victoria Premier cancels visit to Mumbai over terror fears - Sep 21, 2009
- Australia sees rise in Indian students' applications - Feb 21, 2012
- Australia wants more Indian tourists - Oct 13, 2011
- Australia 'failed' India in resolving racial violence row during Gillard's visit: WikiLeaks - Mar 31, 2011
- Racial attacks on Indians unacceptable: Victoria Premier - Sep 24, 2009
- Australia sees rise in Indian students' applications (Lead) - Feb 21, 2012
- Air India to fly direct daily between Melbourne and Delhi - Jun 22, 2010
- No fresh attacks on Indian students in Australia: Sibal - Aug 27, 2010
- Don't jump to conclusions, Victoria premier appeals after Indian's death - Jan 04, 2010
- Victoria doing all it could to stop attacks, state premier tells Indian envoy (Lead) - Feb 04, 2010
- Meet me again, Australian state premier to Indian envoy - Feb 04, 2010
- Attacks will be checkmated, Krishna assured by Australia (Second Lead) - Jan 27, 2010
- Racist attacks have damaged Victoria and Australia's image in India: Premier Brumby - Sep 16, 2009
Tags: australia melbourne, backdrop, economy, garg, India, indian students, indians in australia, john brumby, melbourne march, negative media coverage, relationship, spate, state tourism, student violence, tim holding, tourism minister, tourism research, tourists, victoria state