DELAYS in approving tourist visas for Indian travellers are costing Australia’s tourism industry up to $500 million a year, the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has calculated.
The peak inbound tourism body says the time taken to clear a tourist visa for an Indian traveller has grown from 14 days in 2015 to more than five weeks today, inhibiting Australia’s fastest growing inbound market.
“We’re losing opportunities… tourist dollars are going out the door,” ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley told the Australian Financial Review.
“Over the last 12 months this issue has gotten out of control.”
ATEC found its members were losing 40% of their Indian business because of delays.
It has raised the matter with the Department of Home Affairs.
Source: traveldaily