World Cup calls: Indian fans pad up to visit Australia

NEW DELHI: No distance, it seems, is too great for the cricket fan. With the Men in Blue out to defend their title and a mouth-watering contest with Pakistan on offer, there’s a rush of Indians waiting to go to Australia and New Zealand to cheer their team in the World Cup games.
The Australian high commission here said the number of tourist visa applications received this January was 37% higher than the same month last year."We have received 12,176 tourist visa applications this January while the number was 8,908 last January. This is a very significant increase," a high commission spokesperson said.
New Zealand is granting visa on arrival to cricket fans who have an Australian tourist visa. The offer is open from January 26 to April 5.
Such is the surge in applications for travel to Australia that it’s taking longer than usual to process visa forms.
Tourism Australia, in an advisory to travel agents here, said, "Due to large number of tourists travelling to Australia for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and summer holidays, the visa office at the Australian high commission, New Delhi, is currently experiencing a very high volume of visitor visa lodgements. As a result, visa processing time may take longer than usual."
"Travellers planning to apply for an Australian visitor/ business visa are requested to please keep clear 15 working days (three weeks) on hand at the time of submitting the application to avoid any kind of disappointment," the advisory said.
It also requested clients and agents to keep status inquiries by phone and email to a minimum, "taking into account the above update on processing times and given that attending to large volumes of inquiries impacts on the resources available to finalize visa applications."
The steep costs of travelling Down Under for hardly seem to be deterring Indian fans. Travel portal Yatra COO Sharat Dhal said they are offering a package for over Rs 2 lakh which includes tickets for the India-Pakistan game on February 15 at the Adelaide Oval.
"This eight-day package is now sold out. Our bookings for Australia and New Zealand have tripled in comparison to last year. We have huge demand for Australia customized packages around February and March," Dhal said.
Said Ranjeet Oak, MakeMyTrip incharge of holidays, "We have seen an overall growth of close to 50% for Australia for the February-March period... As most of the match venues are fairly close to major travel attractions, travellers can combine their love for sports and explore these destinations as well."