Published: 04 March 2009.

The announcement of direct Qantas flights from Mumbai to Brisbane was wonderful news and would throw open the gates for one of Queensland's most promising tourism markets, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said.

Qantas today announced that from mid May, the three times weekly Qantas flight from Mumbai via Singapore will now terminate in Brisbane.

"India's economy is now one of the fastest growing in the world and is underpinning India's international travel growth," Ms Boyle said.

"The latest figures show Indian visitors to Queensland increased by 31 percent to 33,000 in the year ended September 08 contributing $88 million to the economy.

"Obviously, in the current economic climate, this year will be an extremely challenging one for the Queensland tourism industry.

"Today's announcement marks the first time we have had a flight from India through to Queensland.

"It's just the shot in the arm we need right now and Tourism Queensland will be working with Qantas and Indian travel trade to take advantage of this great opportunity for the Queensland tourism industry."

Ms Boyle said Tourism Queensland had representatives in India and had recently released a three year strategy targeting the Indian market.

Since 2005, the number of holiday visitors from India to Queensland had grown at an average annual rate of 22 percent.

"Queensland has a broad range of experiences and destinations which appeal to Indian travellers," Ms Boyle said.

"Indian visitors to Queensland are generally high income earning families and honeymooners who on average stay for 19 nights and have a relatively high average spend per visitor of $1409.

"The strategy identifies key priorities for Queensland such as attracting high- spending Indian visitors, aligning Queensland's experiences to meet the needs and expectations of Indian visitors and improving air access for Indian travellers to Queensland."

Ms Boyle said strategy was a useful reference tool for tourism operators interested in tapping into the Indian market.

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