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Shanghai: New "virtual tourism" technology for mobile devices, along with streamlined visa requirements, will greatly increase Chinese interest in visiting Australia, according to Malcolm Turnbull.
Launching the technology in Shanghai, the Prime Minister, who was flanked by his wife, Lucy, said Chinese tourism was of immense importance to Australia, making an $8.3 billion contribution to the economy last year from more than 1 million visits.
"China is Australia's most valuable tourism market; more than a million Chinese visited Australia last year," Mr Turnbull said at a function in Shanghai's sprawling Expo Centre.
He said the mobile application, which transports prospective tourists to Australia's most desirable locations (see videos below), had been designed to work on China's 700 million smartphones. "This is optimised for use on mobile devices," he said.
"It connects social media, to enable virtual experience of visiting Australia and, of course, it enables individual respective tourists in China to see the wonders of Australia, to see the exciting opportunities of coming to visit us.
"This is a very important step change in our marketing of Australia. It makes Australia more accessible, more available, more compelling as a tourism destination."
The new marketing technology will be buttressed by a trial of visa changes designed to remove blocks to Chinese tourists wanting to head Down Under.
Eight student visa classes would be cut to just two, and for the first time tourist visa applications would be possible in a language other than English - in this case Mandarin - and online.
There will also be a trial of a new 10-year tourist visa to encourage return visits with no new paperwork.
That development is likely to be welcomed by cashed-up Chinese travellers who have faced inordinate visa demands, such as bank records and other documentation, all of which have made travel to Australia less attractive.
But Australia's trial of the streamlined visas still puts it behind the US and Britain, which have already moved to permanent 10-year, repeat-entry tourist visas for the Chinese.
Next year has been designated the Australia-China Year of Tourism. "Both our governments are working on a program of events in China and Australia throughout 2017 to promote the tourism relationship," Mr Turnbull said.
