Australia makes an effort to attract Chinese tourists

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Created on Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:27

Written by Editorial staff

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has just opened a new Australian Visa Application Centre (AVAC) in Guangzhou.

The introduction of this AVAC should make it a lot easier for Chinese travellers to visit Australia's shores.

According to the DIAC, you can either lodge a visa application there - provided you make an appointment first - or courier it.

The AVAC will provide those applying for migration visas with many benefits.

For instance, its staff will be available to answer questions both before and after you have lodged your visa application, whether you arrive in person or phone them.

This is all part of a larger plan to attract more Chinese travellers to Australia, which has been garnering support from organisations all over the country.

Tourism Australia, for instance, launched a website on August 12, which was designed specifically with this ever-growing market in mind.

Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia, explained that everything about the website is catered to Chinese travellers' tastes.

Apparently this market loves Australia's food and wine, its beautiful and varied landscape and its many bustling towns. So, Tourism Australia made a point of highlighting all of these assets on the website.

Chinese social media platforms have also been integrated into the website, so that people who do make the journey to Australia can share their experiences with everyone back home.

It also includes important information about immigration visas and covers topics such as consumer rights, health and safety, and more.

"This is the first time Tourism Australia has developed and hosted a consumer website in any overseas market and it is an essential step in Australia staying ahead of the competition in China," said Mr McEvoy.

Restaurant and Catering Australia (R&CA) and the National Tourism Alliance also released a joint media statement on Tuesday (August 20) that revealed both organisations support encouraging more Chinese travellers to visit Down Under.

It's no wonder that Australia is making such an effort. According to Shadow Tourism Minister Bob Baldwin, almost 700,000 Chinese travellers came to Australia during the past year.

This is up 17.4 per cent on the year before.

Tourism Australia's Andrew McEvoy said Chinese tourists will be worth more than $9 billion to our economy by 2020, so it's certainly in our best interests to make an effort to welcome them.