This week, for the first time, tourism boards from all eight Australian states and territories participated in Tourism Australia’s marketplace in India.

One trend that representatives are trying to capture: Indian travelers are increasingly visiting just one part of the country, according to Nishant Kashikar, Tourism Australia’s country manager for India.

“We thought that when Indians traveled, they would do a multi-city or multi-state itinerary, but that is changing,” he said. Indians are now taking a week or 10 days to explore single destinations such as Tasmania or Western Australia instead of traveling across the country. 

Simplified multi-entry visas have played a role in encouraging this shift, according to Kashikar.

Tourism Australia is tapping into Indians’ deep love for cricket to build brand affinity and drive travel interest. A recent “Howzat for a Holiday” campaign features Australian captain Pat Cummins. Last year, a digital campaign starring David Warner was timed to coincide with the Border-Gavaskar Test series between India and Australia.

More than 6,000 Indians traveled to Australia for that series alone.

“It is about making that connection and really playing into what Indian travelers love and aspire to see,” Jennifer Doig, regional general manager for South and Southeast Asia at Tourism Australia told Skift.

Australia is also expecting another throng of Indian visitors to the country later this year around the Diwali break when the Indian cricket team will be traveling to Australia to play. In fact, the match scheduled to be held in Sydney is sold out because it could potentially be the last One-Day International match played together by Indian cricket stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Kashikar said.

Beyond Cricket: Selling Australia’s Broader Appeal

But is cricket and diplomatic goodwill enough to maintain momentum with Indian travelers?

Kashikar also noted that Indian travelers continue to prioritize secure destinations.

“Australia ranks right up there in terms of safety,” he said.

Kashikar and Doig noted that experiences tied to social, cultural, and entertainment events are also increasingly driving visits. “This is a significant shift that we’ve seen in the number of people who travel for these events,” Kashikar said. “Australia has got such a huge and massive event calendar. We would like to capitalize on these opportunities.”

Indians are visiting the country for events such as Vivid Sydney, Margaret River Festival, Australian Open tennis tournament, Formula One races, or food festivals such as the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, and then are building holidays around that experience.

Other pull factors include food, especially vegan options, and improved accessibility. “Great food and drinks, including vegan food, are available in Australia so we check that box as well,” Kashikar said. “Ease of access in terms of aviation connectivity and ease of getting a visa are also factors that Indians consider before planning a holiday.”

Indian Tourism in Numbers

In the 12 months ending May 2025, 453,000 Indian travelers visited Australia – a 10% year-over-year increase. India maintained its position as the fifth-largest source market for Australian tourism. Spending also rose: In the year ending March 2025, spending by Indian visitors increased 14% from the year prior.

Indians are staying longer, too. “The number of nights that Indians have spent in Australia have increased by 21%,” Kashikar shared.

“This steady growth of travelers year on year makes it important we meet the trade community and offer a platform to showcase Australia’s premium offerings,” Doig said.

Sabre’s share price was down nearly 40% Thursday after quarterly results came in below estimates and the company had to lower its forecast for the year.

“The operating environment remains challenging and is pressuring air distribution bookings,” CEO Kurt Ekert said in prepared remarks. “As a result, the second quarter came in below expectations and we are updating our outlook for the remainder of the year.”

Sabre lowered its second half outlook to a range of 4% to 10% for air bookings growth. Sabre had previously said it expected 20% growth.

Sabre primarily makes money by getting fees from airlines and distributing their flights to travel agencies. It has high exposure to business travel, government and military travel, and all of those were weak in the second quarter.

“Looking at bookings mix in the second half of 2025, we expect to continue to be adversely
impacted by our greater exposure to corporate travel, military and government travel, and our
higher share in certain countries that are seeing a disproportionate travel decline,” Ekert said.

In the second quarter, Sabre recorded a net loss of $256 million on $687 million in revenue, a 1% decline.

During a call with analysts Thursday, Ekert explained how earlier optimism about air distribution bookings growth faded.

“Since that time, the market has continued to change,” Ekert said. “For example, airlines have pared back capacity. And ultimately, as we shared in our prepared comments today, we saw incremental industry weakness in June and into July.”

Sabre is heavily dependent on distribution revenue, which accounted for 79% of total sales in the quarter.

Sabre completed the sale of its hospitality solutions business to TPG for $1.1 billion in July. He pointed to gains in Sabre’s hotel distribution business in the second quarter.

“Hotel distribution bookings growth continued, up 2% in the quarter, and the attachment rate to air bookings improved 100 basis points to 34%,” he said.

Demand for short-term rentals in Southern Europe’s peak summer season is showing signs of decline, and extreme heat may be a key factor behind the shift.

Countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Malta, and Cyprus, have seen a steady decline in the share of annual demand concentrated in those peak months, according to new data from vacation rental analytics firm AirDNA, shared with Skift.

The trend, visible across both beach towns and urban centers, suggests that travelers could be adjusting their habits to avoid the worst of summer heatwaves.

“We definitely see a movement of the share of demand from some of the peak months into the shoulder season months,” said Bram Gallagher, an economist at AirDNA. “It seems like heatwaves are going to be a recurring fixture in European travel.”

Summer Decline, Shoulder Seasons Gain

While overall demand for short-term rentals continues to grow in many of these countries, the pace is now faster in spring and autumn than in the height of summer.

In Spain, for example, there has been a sharp dip since 2018 in demand for short-term rentals in August but there have been slight increases in the period between February and May.

August demand has dropped in Italy with mild increases in May, June and February, with spring gaining ground as an alternative to peak summer.

The data show a similar trend in Greece, Cyprus and France, where February and May are growing. 

The data doesn’t measure total travel volume, it shows when people are booking. In other words, it tracks what share of annual bookings occur in each month, like August compared to April.

2023 showed the steepest drop in June to August demand share, a year that broke records as the hottest ever globally and in Europe. 

“2023 was probably the most severe heat we’ve seen,” Gallagher said. “There are many factors, overcrowding, costs, but I think weather is certainly among the top reasons things are shifting.”

That summer brought wildfires, evacuations, and weeks of extreme temperatures, often exceeding 40°C, in regions across southern Europe and wider.

These weather events led to travel disruptions, including evacuations, flight delays, and booking cancellations, according to the European Travel Commission, which found a 10% drop across those destinations in 2023 when compared to the previous year. 

The commission found in another report that 81% of Europeans say the climate somehow affects how they travel, up 7 percentage points from last year. 

The AirDNA team, which pulls data from Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Expedia, said there are shifting trends in Northern Europe too.

Countries like Sweden, Norway, and Finland are seeing rising short-term rental booking demand during the peak summer months, a notable contrast to what’s happening further south.

Skift’s in-depth reporting on climate issues is made possible through the financial support of Intrepid Travel. This backing allows Skift to bring you high-quality journalism on one of the most important topics facing our planet today. Intrepid is not involved in any decisions made by Skift’s editorial team.