With the number of Chinese tourists falling, Australia is using cricket to target visitors from India

Tourism Australia's mascot Ruby the Roo has a new batting partner in the form of Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins, who stars alongside her in a multi-million dollar campaign aimed at luring more Indian travelers Down Under.

Timed ahead of the Australia-India Test series opener, which starts in Perth on Friday, the new advertising blitz features iconic tourist spots such as Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Kangaroo Island in South Australia, Rottnest Island in Western Australia and Palm Beach in Sydney.

Tourism Australia said the Howzat for a holiday? The campaign, which features a series of cheeky social media videos and a television commercial, is expected to reach 50 million Indian viewers. The campaign also includes billboards, signage and print advertisements across India.

Tourism Australia hopes to tap India's growing middle class while recovering from setbacks in the Chinese market, which has been hit hard by geopolitical tensions and the pandemic.

Managing director Phillipa Harrison said Indian visitor numbers had already surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

“With a population of over 1.4 billion people and more Indians wanting to travel, the potential in the Indian market is endless and we see the upcoming Test series as our opportunity to lead the way and promote our country in a permanent TV audience,” Ms. Harrison said.

'Air connections between India and Australia have never been stronger.

“The market was one of the first to fully recover after the pandemic and forecasts predict the number of Indians traveling to Australia to double 2019 levels by 2028.”

Australia focuses on Indian tourists

The new campaign builds on Tourism Australia's global Come and Say G'day initiative, which launched in 2022 after borders reopened.

Ruby the Roo returns in this latest marketing campaign and goes playfully sledding with the Australian cricket captain.

“Oi Pat, shouldn't you be at training?” Ruby ribs Cummins, who fires back: “Shouldn't you be on a keychain?”

“Where are your white people?” Ruby asks, waving again, to which Cummins responds, “Where are your pants?”

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Although the jokes are light-hearted, the ads have a serious purpose: to create hype for Australian tourism in the lucrative Indian market.

India is already the fastest recovering international market for Australian tourism operators following the COVID-19 crisis. About 424,000 Indian visitors are expected by the end of this year, making it Australia's fourth largest visitor market, according to Tourism Research Australia (TRA).

Last week, a delegation from Tourism Australia, including state and territory tourism organizations, traveled to New Delhi and Mumbai and formed a new partnership with national carrier Air India to plan more flights.

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, senior lecturer in tourism at the University of South Australia, said India is an important market for Australia, especially as Chinese visitor numbers still lag at just over half of what they were before the pandemic.

“The tourism industry doesn't like to talk about geopolitics, but it has been very tense for some time,” Dr Higgins-Desbiolles said.

“There are two key factors: the pandemic and the anti-China rhetoric that came from it, and then the strategic tensions with the United States, and Australia's increased alignment with the US.

“The tourism industry will look at geopolitics and see that tensions with China are likely to continue, and so it would be smart to diversify the markets we depend on.”

Why cricket is key

She says it makes sense for Australian tourism to target India's 1.4 billion people and growing middle class by tapping into a shared love of cricket.

“We are both cricket-mad nations and both populations will travel to watch cricket matches,” she said.

“Cricket is very popular in India and a source of national pride.

“So I think a marketing campaign built around that and sports enthusiasm and sports tourism has a lot of potential.”

This is not the first time that Tourism Australia has roped in a cricket star to lure Indians to Australia.

Earlier this month, former cricketer David Warner starred in a social media campaign highlighting his favorite Australian holiday destinations.

In 2012, former fast bowler Brett Lee was also appointed ambassador for Tourism Australia.

Australia will start as favorites to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2017 when the first Test of the series begins in Perth on Friday.