47% more interest in intern'al travel than 6 months ago

As India's travellers have become more comfortable using the web to find cheap airfares, they are now turning to the Internet to find special deals on air and hotel travel packages for weekend getaways including the upcoming 2nd October weekend.

Tripmela.com, India's only source for online travel deals, has seen a surge in interest in weekend getaways during the summer, according to Jared Blank, the company's CEO. "Just 6 months ago, our visitors were primarily interested in finding low priced airfares," Blank said. "But since July we have seen a more than 100% increase in visitors interested in the low cost weekend getaways published on tripmela.com."

Site visitors have been especially interested in weekend trips to Kerala and the Andaman Islands. The growth in interest for trips to the Andamans should be good news to Air Sahara, which has recently launched nonstop service from Delhi to Port Blair. 2nd October weekend packages have also been popular, as consumers get more comfortable booking air and hotel deals on the Internet.

Surprisingly, special fares to New York have also been popular. Blank noted that he was initially surprised that consumers were so interested in international travel, since it has a higher price point. However, he said, "India's travellers are interested in a good deal. They aren't just looking at Air Deccan's Rs 1 fares. They're also researching how to travel overseas for less. In fact, we've seen a 47% increase in interest for our international deals compared to what we saw 6 months ago."

This growth in international travel online coincides with an increase in the number of Indians travelling abroad. According to the World Tourism Organisation, 5 million Indians travelled outside the country in 2003, while this number has grown to 7 million this year. Most of the growth has yet to come, as they project 50 million Indians will travel out in 2020.

While the United States is a popular international destination for Tripmela visitors, up-and-coming destinations include Australia, China, Germany and France. For weekend trips, visitors are checking out deals to Sri Lanka, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

A few examples of this week's weekend packages:

-- 2 night package to Agra over 2nd October weekend for Rs 2,115

-- 3 night package to Bali for Rs 5,929

-- 3 night air/hotel package to Goa over 2nd October weekend for Rs 6,299.

About Tripmela, Inc.

Tripmela.com is India's only online publisher of airfare specials, hotel deals, and great travel packages. No other website brings together travel deals specially tailored for India's travellers. In addition to publishing new deals daily at Tripmela.com, every Monday we send out the 10 Best Deals Weekly Newsletter, with our hottest specials for the week. Signup is free and tailored to India's travellers--no more will you have to sift through travel deals to places you don't want to go.

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