The Hindu Business Line : `Cruises, spa vacations are most sought after by Indians'

Mr Anil Bhandari, Managing Director, Travel House, said river cruises in Europe and China are the latest trend in outbound travel from India. While offering a single check-in and checkout option, river cruises combine the experience of a coach tour and a cruise in one, he said.

On a cruise, for example, you can be as active or as relaxed. Similarly, luxury resorts and spa properties are favourites as they are complete destination in themselves.

Ms Gauri Jayaram, Regional Director, Globus and Cosmos, said travellers from India are getting bolder with their destination choice and are going in for the exotic apart from the usual multi-country European tours. The new emerging destinations include Turkey, Spain, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland.

Mr Bhandari said while Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand continue to be most in demand, destinations such as Egypt and China are gaining in popularity as well.

Indian travellers are also showing an increased level of confidence in exploring destination unescorted, Ms Jayaram said.

Travel companies have come out with packages targeted at specific interest groups. Travel Corporation of India (TCI) has launched its FIFA 2006 package for football fans.

The packages start from Rs 64,090 per person which includes economy return airfare from Mumbai, Bangalore, Kochi, Delhi and Chennai; two nights, twin sharing accommodation in 3 star hotels, inclusive of breakfast and taxes, and one complimentary ticket for the quarter final at Frankfurt.

Tickets and accommodation are available with TCI for all matches including qualifying rounds, quarter finals, semi finals and finals.

All tours are based on a minimum of two people travelling together and the packages are valid till June 30.

TCI offers a Da Vinci Code tour priced at £700 and throws in sights connected with Dan Brown's best selling novel The Da Vinci Code, with an option to extend the trip to Scotland.

Globus, an escorted travel company, has put together an eight-day `Breaking the Code' tour. This tour is priced at $1,699 and includes the key cities in the book - Paris, London and Edinburgh.

TCI also gives you the option of customising your own Da Vinci Code tour. For instance, a day or night tour of the Louvre would cost £37 or a day tour in Edinburgh would cost £41.

Another trend that is becoming popular on the domestic sectors are driving holidays, especially for weekend getaways. Mr Bhandari said that companies such as Travel House are anticipating growth from this business segment. However, he said, the Indian traveller is yet to come of age when it comes to overseas motoring holidays.

Treks continue to be popular among a section of the travellers, especially school and special interest groups. Himalayan treks have become extremely popular among school groups in the South.

Trekking has also become popular as team building exercises in the incentive travel segment, Mr Bhandari said.

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