Funding boost to entice Indian cricket fans

31 July 2019

Tourism Australia has received a $5 million funding boost to promote the upcoming ICC T20 Cricket World Cup being held in Australia for the first time next year, to fans in India.

More than one million spectators from around Australia and the world are expected to attend this significant sporting event, which will be played as two standalone tournaments for women and men, delivering significant benefits to the tourism industry and broader economy.

Federal Minister for Tourism Simon Birmingham said the funds will support activities over two years aimed at driving visitation to both the women’s and men’s tournaments next year as well as increasing Australia’s broader destination appeal in India - our fastest growing tourism market.

The Indian market is currently worth $1.7 billion to Australia, with visitation forecast to climb from 367,000 currently to nearly 1.2 million by 2035. Tourism Australia’s consumer research shows that sporting events, particularly cricket, are a driver of visitation with over a quarter of high value Indian travellers are willing to undertake long haul trips to attend cricket tournaments and other sporting events.

Given the immense popularity of cricket in India, the World Cup tournaments present the perfect opportunity to harness both countries’ shared love of the sport by urging Indians to book a trip to Australia to cheer on their team and explore our country.

Around 100,000 international visitors flocked to Australia when it co-hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 with New Zealand, with arrivals and spend from India witnessing a spike of 19 per cent and 38 per cent respectively for the year ended December 2015.

The 2020 World Cup will be played across eight host cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

The event commences on 21 February when the Australian women’s team takes on India at Sydney Showground Stadium, with the final set to be held at the MCG on International Women’s Day on 8 March.

The men’s tournament will run from 18 October to 15 November 2020 to an expected broadcast audience of to two billion.

Tourism Australia will kick off its activities in August when the tournament trophies travel to Australia Marketplace in India to generate excitement and support for the events among key trade and accredited travel agents.