Following the pulse of the market that looks for innovative and niche travel products, tour operation franchisee, TravelPort Holidays has announced plans to offer specialised cricket tours both in India and abroad.

It has tied up with Hermess International, (owned by former Sri Lankan cricketer Roshan Mahanama) to offer packages for the forthcoming Triangular Series between India, Sri Lanka and South Africa to be held in Sri Lanka in August 2006. These packages come with various combinations including premium pavilion view tickets and accommodation in the same hotel as the players. It is also working closely with SriLankan Airlines for this package.

Speaking about the initiative, K Venkatesh Rao, the company's CEO, said, "Cricket is a magic word in India and we intend to position cricket tourism differently through this maiden package. The product positioning is important and we have a lot of attractive highlights in the package apart from just tickets and hotel bookings." The company is also aiming to focus on the corporate segment with such packages.

Travelport intends to offer specialised packages for other sports events as well such as the upcoming Champions Trophy to be held in India. Other packages that the company has outlined include 21 matches that the under-19 cricket club of MIG will play in London with various clubs and counties. For this, it has tied up with Royal Goan Group that is scheduled to sponsor the team. The company plans to use this event as a platform to market Goa in the UK market. Travelport has 68 franchise offices, eight offices in India and five abroad. It has added another franchise office in Dhaka and is looking to add one more in the Asia Pacific region.