Lee to promote Australian tourism in India

Melbourne: Popular in India for reasons which go beyond cricket, affable pacer Brett Lee has been roped in for promoting Australian tourism in the country.

According to `The Daily Telegraph`, Lee has been named a "Friend of Australia" under Tourism Australia`s advocacy program. As part the promotion, he would be welcoming over 70 Indian travel agents and take them around the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground tonight. The tour operators are here to participate in a six-day India Mega Family and Workshop and are also visiting Sydney and the Hunter Region in NSW, the Gold Coast in Queensland and Perth and Fremantle in Western Australia during their visit. Tourism Australia is eyeing the Indian market which it believes is worth more than USD two billion. It expects upto 300,000 potential annual visitors by the end of the decade. Lee, a part-time musician who considers India his second home, said having travelled there more than 60 times, he was looking forward to encouraging Indians to visit Australia. The `Friends of Australia` program has more than 160 advocates, including media personality Antonia Kidman, The Castle star Michael Caton and businessman Dick Smith. PTI