Oz urged to partner with Kiwis to help Indian fans get single visa for 2015 World Cup

Tourism experts have reportedly urged Australia to partner with New Zealand to make it easier for wealthy Indian cricket fans wanting to attend the 2015 World Cup to get single-entry visas.

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, Telegraph.com.au reports that Indians who book tickets for Australia in 2015 would be subject to a 115 Australian dollar-charge for an Australian tourist visa and a 165 New Zealand-dollar charge for a New Zealand visa.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Ken Morrison said that Australia risked missing out on a flood of Indian tourists because of restrictive visa conditions on visitors from the subcontinent, adding that the country should work with New Zealand to create a single visa region.

Morrison further said that having a single application process for visas to both countries for the event would make it much simpler for Indian visitors to follow their team with pool games in both countries, adding that it would encourage travel between Australia and New Zealand and help both countries capitalise on the World Cup opportunity.

The report mentioned that the number of Indian visitors to Australia rose by nearly eight per cent to 164,000 in the last financial year and is expected to rise further with India being targeted by Tourism Australia as a source market of growing importance, the report added.