• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi , March 20

THE southward movement in international airfares and the easy availability of seats and foreign exchange are tempting more travellers to consider taking a short break not only in India, but also abroad.

As a pleasant surprise to the travel industry, people in hordes are enquiring about spending the three-day Holi-Easter weekend in tourist spots in neighbouring countries.

Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are turning out to be some of the favoured destinations.

In recent months, there has been a spate of announcements by leading international airlines offering packages to attract Indian travellers. The airlines offering packages include SriLankan Airline, Myanmar Airways and Malaysian Airlines. Air Sahara is offering a low return fare of Rs 10,000 between Chennai and Kuala Lumpur. The Managing Director, Amadeus Indian Subcontinent, Mr Ankur Bhatia, added that there had been a major jump between this year and the last in total air bookings on international and domestic sectors during long weekend breaks. Travel agents point out that earlier, customers were keen on going to nearby local destinations. The favoured destinations included Goa, Matheran and Mahabaleshwar in the West, while in the East the choices available were Darjeeling, Gangtok and Shillong. The North, however, had greater choices such as Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and the foothills of the Himalayas.

The Senior Vice-President, Marketing, SOTC, Mr Frederick Divecha, said, "There has been a heavy demand for short haul holiday packages for the upcoming three-day Good Friday-Holi weekend. People are not only looking at destinations within the country, but also abroad." Concurring with the views, the Director (Marketing), , STIC Travel Group, Ms Richa Goyal, said that during the past few seasons, there has been an increasing trend of people taking advantage of a long-holiday weekend.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Exotic destinations at dream fares

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line