David Warner is Tourism Australia’s pick to bowl over Indian travellers

One of the country’s most famous batsmen has landed the job of selling Australia to Indian travellers during the summer Test series.

Tourism Australia mascot Ruby the Roo has been temporarily sidelined by David Warner in a new marketing campaign targeting cricket-mad India.

Timed to coincide with the Australia-India Test series, the former Australian opener will star in a string of videos highlighting his own favourite holiday destinations including Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

It’s not the first time Tourism Australia has called on a cricket star to help market the country to India. In 2012, former fast bowler Brett Lee was anointed a tourism ambassador, tapping into his major celebrity status in India.

The new marketing push comes as Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison leads a delegation of senior travel and business people to New Delhi and Mumbai this week.

The trip is aimed at further strengthening ties with key travel partners in India, including airlines and distribution outlets.

India has been one of the fastest travel markets to recover since the pandemic, with short-term ­arrivals to Australia at 106 per cent of 2019 levels in the year to August.

The only other market to ­exceed pre-pandemic levels since borders reopened has been South Korea, thanks to additional airline capacity between Seoul and Australia.

A big boost in airline capacity between Australia and India has also helped drive up visitor numbers with 26 direct flights a week now, compared with just eight pre-Covid.

David and Candice Warner at Bondi Beach, in a new Tourism Australia campaign targeting Indian travellers

With India having a population of more than 1.4 billion people, Ms Harrison said it was clear there was room for plenty more growth in the number of Indian visitors to Australia.

“We know India will play a growing role in global tourism over the next decade and we want to make sure Australia is part of that,” she said.

“The potential for the India market really is endless and that’s why we are taking such a senior delegation of Australian tourism and business events leaders to India to meet with key stakeholders.”

As part of the trip, Ms Harrison will launch a four-part social content series starring Warner, who was recently named as the captain of Big Bash League side Sydney Thunder.

She said Warner remained “incredibly popular in India” and he would play a crucial role in helping to attract travellers from India to Australia.

“There is no doubt over the next few months Indians will be firmly focused on what’s happening on the pitch in Australia and we want to take that opportunity to remind them of what we have to offer,” she said.

David Warner atop the SkyPoint Observation Deck in Surfers Paradise

Ruby the Roo won’t be completely sidelined, with another campaign to feature the fluffy brand ambassador in a “special push” into India, to be unveiled ahead of the first Test in Perth.

The plush toy kangaroo was revealed as the star of a $125m Tourism Australia promotion in late 2022, in an effort to rebuild international visitor numbers in the wake of crippling border ­closures.

Although markets such as India and South Korea have fully recovered, big-spending Chinese and American tourists continue to lag 2019 figures.