By V. Vijayalakshmi

Mere trips to Singapore and Thailand, or for that matter even London, Paris and Rome are no longer good enough for the great Indian traveller who is now looking at specialised tours like music cruises, adventure trails, spiritual getaways and health holidays abroad.

Toronto-based Allegro Holidays, for instance, caters to thousands of music buffs in India. It is offering luxury classical music cruises in 2008, bookings for which have already started.

Holiday planners with Mumbai-headquartered Kuoni Travel Group India are busy customising specialised packages for travellers, who want a spot of thrill and activity thrown into their New Year itineraries.

Holidays, say tour operators, are changing across the country. Niche is the latest buzzword in the travel circuit this season and the profile of the traveller is FIT or free independent travellers.

They are young, aspirational and upwardly mobile and want to tailor-make their itineraries to suit budgets and individual tastes.

New global players have entered the tourism market with ultra-niche packages to tap the exploding outbound sector.

The musical cruise, say Allegro sources, coincides its itineraries with performances in the famous opera houses of Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. An ensemble, Opera Interludes, entertains tourists on board with music composed by Mozart, Strauss and Hayden. A lecturer on board enlightens guests on western classical music.

The packages are broken into leisure cruises on the Danube, excursion trails and special events. The tariffs range from $1,375 per person for the Hayden deck, $1,720 per person for the Strauss deck and $1,900 for the Mozart deck. While the musically inclined can waltz on the “Blue Danube” in 2008, Thomas Cook India has packed an exciting six-day Rocky Mountain trail covering Vancouver, Kamloops, Jasper and Banff for adventure buffs.

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has also been drawing Indian tourists by the thousands.

A seven-day Kenyan safari trail priced at $2,199 is quite a hit in the Indian metros, say leading tour operators.

The number of Indian tourists who went abroad in 2006-2007 stands at a little over eight million and is expected to cross 15 million in another five years, predicts the Pacific-Asia Travel Association, a nodal travel monitor in the continent. For them, spa or health holidays are also hot. The bulk of tourists from India head to the shores of the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia to sample the delights of holistic health.

While Chiva Som, a world-class spa resort in Hua Hin in Thailand, is a favourite destination for singletons - especially women - from India, the Radisson SAS located in the heart of Spa town in France flaunts some state-of-the-art therapies.

Chiva Som charges $305 per person per day during the lean season and $580 per person per day during the peak season.

Outbound travel in India may soon overtake inbound travel, say industry watchers.  Sunil Gupta, chief operating officer, SOTC, part of the Kuoni group, told IANS: “Packages to southeast Asia are the most popular. Nearly 50 percent of the outbound travellers, especially first timers, opt for destinations in the region. Singapore and Malaysia sell well together.”

Industry experts say a budget trip to Bangkok, Singapore and Malaysia, which includes bed and breakfast, costs a mere Rs.12,000 per person with discounts and reduced air tariffs. Another destination that is attracting Indians this season is Disneyland in Hong Kong.
A travel agent in Pune says: “This season alone, nearly 7,000 to 8,000 people opted for leisure trips to overseas destinations.”