In order to promote tourism post-Covid-19 pandemic, India and Australia joined hands for tourism cooperation to help each other and facilitate Indian and Australian tourists, said a senior officer of the Tourism Ministry.

India has so far signed a similar Memorandum of Understanding with 45 more countries to cooperate in the field of Tourism to give a fillip to the tourism industry post-pandemic, the Ministry said here on Saturday.

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Australia is one of the most important tourism generating markets for India and ranked 4th in terms of Foreign Tourist Arrivals to the country in 2019. It is contributing 3.4% to the total tourism share of foreign tourists in the country, the Ministry said.

Earlier in 2014, India and Australia had signed an MoU on tourism cooperation in the field of tourism which expired in the year 2019, the Ministry said.

The number of Australians visiting India has increased consistently in the last few years. In 2016, there were 2,93,625 Australian tourists visiting India which increased to 3,67,241 in 2019, and the number of Indians visiting Australia also increased consistently from 2,62,250 to 5,89,539 in 2019, Ministry said.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by India and Australia would enhance cooperation and encourage Expansion of bilateral relations in tourism, the Ministry said. The MoU would also facilitate the exchange of information and data related to tourism, Cooperation between tourism stakeholders, particularly hotels and tour operators, the Ministry said.

The two countries would also Cooperate and exchange between training and education providers in tourism and hospitality, Investment in the tourism and hospitality sectors, Visits of tour operators and wholesalers, media and opinion makers, the Ministry said.