Tourism chief push for single visa to help attract wealthy cricket fans wanting to attend the 2015 World Cup

AUSTRALIA and New Zealand should create a single visa for wealthy Indian cricket fans to attend the 2015 World Cup, travel experts say.

Tourism experts warn Australia risks losing out if rich Indian cricket fans struggle to get a visa. Picture: AFP /Dibyangshu Sar

AUSTRALIA should partner with New Zealand to make it easier for wealthy Indian cricket fans wanting to attend the 2015 World Cup to get visas, top tourism figures say.

With cricket's biggest event to be hosted by the trans-Tasman neighbours, Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Ken Morrison said Australia risked missing out on a flood of Indian tourists because of restrictive visa conditions on visitors from the subcontinent.

Mr Morrison said Australia should work with New Zealand to create a single visa region that would make it simple for Indian cricket fans to move between the countries following their team.

"With pool games on both sides of the Tasman, we should be looking to make it as easy as possible for Indian cricket fans to travel between Australia and New Zealand," Mr Morrison said.

"Having a single application process for visas to both countries for the event would make it much simpler for Indian visitors and allow them to follow their team, encouraging travel between Australia and New Zealand and helping both countries capitalise on the opportunity the 2015 Cricket World Cup presents."

Previous examples in which the joint hosts of major sporting events have collaborated on visitor visas include the 2012 European Football Championships in Ukraine and Poland and the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.

However, Indians who book tickets Down Under in 2015 would be subject to a $A115 charge for an Australian tourist visa and a NZ$165 (A$138) charge for a New Zealand visa.

The Tourism and Transport Forum's idea has received support on both sides of the Tasman, while Indian-focused tourist companies, such as Travel Maestro Inbound, say it may make it easier to translate interest in World Cup packages into bookings.

"I think it'll probably make it much easier for them if they process both at the same time," director Khorshed Poacha said.

The number of Indian visitors to Australia rose by nearly eight per cent to 164,000 in the last financial year, according to ABS figures, and is expected to rise further.

The country is being targeted by Tourism Australia as a source market of growing importance.

It comes as a Deloitte report has nominated tourism as one of five 'super-growth' sectors that could add about $250 billion to the economy over the next 20 years, and projected visitors from markets like China, India and Indonesia will more than treble over the same period.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said Australia must become the world's best at visa processing in order to attract more visitors.

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