Tour operators and travel agents are working over time to put in place winter special holiday packages to recoup money lost this summer.
This time round, the new hot destinations to be served on the platter include Egypt, Korea, China and Vienna apart from the traditional budget holiday packages to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
The summer peak season, which traditionally accounts for 80 per cent of the total business of tour operators, witnessed a 25-30 per cent dip in business this year owing to the severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Agents are hoping to make up for the business lost this summer with aggressive marketing and new launches. The operators are, however, tight-lipped about the price tags but say the packages will be loaded with value-added propositions.
J D Ketkar, director finance Cox & Kings, said, "A bigtime holiday season is just round the corner. This winter season, we expect a healthy growth and are accordingly planning huge promotional activities for our new `puja special' holiday packages."
"Most of the Indian tourists had to settled down for a domestic trip during this summer. Hence, both in terms of availability of money and willingness to travel, there is a strong possibility of Indian tourists planning their winter holiday abroad," said Fredrick Divecha, senior vice-president of SOTC, the outbound travel division of Kuoni.
"We are expecting around 15-20 per cent growth in business this winter season. We are currently busy designing attractive retail travel packages for the winter," Divecha added.
International tourism boards have already started showcasing their countries as tourism destination. The deputy prime minister of Thailand will be in India this week to promote his country.
