mumbai the number of passengers carried by airlines in 2012 dropped compared to those carried in 2011 according to data released by the directorate general of civil aviation dgca the passenger growth dwindled into negative compared to 2011 the reason experts believe is the dip in travel in 2012 according to dgca data all airlines carried 5503 lakh passengers in 2011 from january to december in 2012 this figure dropped to 53414 lakh the growth percentage consequently dropped to 294 percent travel experts said that the main drop came due to kingfisher airlines backing out of business due to the trouble with kingfisher airlines many tickets were cancelled last minute this affected travel plans as many people did not rebook due to expensive spot fares said a fortbased travel agent to add to it the number of seats in the market also went down thereby leaving less scope for growth he added other tour operators said that the travel season in 2012 was also lukewarm despite a good travel response from people during diwali the christmas and new year holiday season was very dull compared to other years there was a hike in air fares during diwali due to a massive rise in demand however fares stayed grounded at the yearend as demand had dropped drastically said another tour operatorrise in the number of indians who visited australia in 2012 the number of indians going to australia went up by 75 percent in 2012 compared to 2011 according to a press statement by australia tourism around 16 lakh india tourists visited the aussie land in 2012 there was a 394 percent increase in the number of indians visiting australia in the month of december compared to the same month a year ago according to the release 22440 tourists from india went to australia in december 2012 australia tourism said that india is the tenth largest tourist market for australia most of the indians visit australia for leisure followed by business and then education as per forecasts australia is expecting tourists from india to rise at around seven percent on an average each year according to travel agents australia tourism is targeting people in the metros to increase the number of tourists to their countries indians are also warming up to the idea of australia as an education destination apart from the usa and the uk australia is already very popular as a holiday destination among indians now the number of students going there is also steadily increasing the country has been conducting serious campaigns in india to advertise itself as a holiday destination said a fortbased travel agent australia has over the time come up with attractions to lure indians food and even hotels now have facilities to target indian tourists he added