Shubhra Tandon

Mumbai, Sept. 4 Planning a weekend trip? Goa, Ooty, Shimla, Puducherry are not the only destinations. Catching up with nightlife in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangkok, Singapore on weekends and cashing in on seasonal sales in these places is increasingly becoming a viable option for Indians with deep pockets.

With 2007 being the year of longest weekends, travellers have many options to choose from. Mr Javed Akkhtar of Travel Port, an Indian travel company, sees a surge in group bookings for short travels within and outside India. “We get many enquiries for weekend destinations abroad. Rising income levels and not-so-expensive air travel is boosting weekend travel,” he says.

However, Mr Subhash Motwani of Compact Travel, another travel company says, “Frequent fliers are fast emerging as a class of weekend leisure travellers to foreign countries. As they get to accumulate frequent flier miles they are using it for leisure travel. Flexi work opportunities, higher income brackets and long weekends are only furthering the trend.”

Not just that, countries such as Sri Lanka are also wooing Indian tourists with the facility of Visa on Arrival. Says Ms Maadhuri Verma, Destination Manager, Sri Lanka Tourist Board, “Visa on Arrival is an essential factor that spurs the weekend holiday-makers. This becomes more important keeping in mind the psychology of Indian travellers who are considered to be last minute planners.”

Also packages starting from Rs 9,999 onwards (exclusive of taxes) for two nights and three days, which include return airfare, accommodation, transfers and half-day sight-seeing within Colombo, are major attractions for tourists, says Ms Verma.

Ready to spend a little more, well Malaysia might just be in your reach. The Director of Tourism Malaysia, Mr Manoharan, says, “Malaysia offers the right element of weekend holiday excursions for corporate jet setters who are cash-rich and time-poor.”

For Rs 18,000 (exclusive of taxes) per person, one can avail oneself of a return airfare for Malaysia on economy class, accommodation for four days and three nights with breakfast, airport transfers and half-day sightseeing.

Source : Business Line Daily - The Hindu