Unprecedented increase in demand for hotels and travel bookings has heated the rates of tour packages by 15 per cent.

The bookings of tour operators and hotels are full, as the tour season is a month away.
On the domestic front, Goa leads as the travel destination for Christmas and new year, followed by Kerala, Rajasthan and hill stations in the North and South.

Bookings for Goa have gone up drastically. India’s leading travel portal Travelguru said it is handling as many as 30 bookings a day as compared with 5 to 10 bookings it handles in the lean season.

The hotel occupancy is close to 80 per cent with a few hotels even levying a surcharge in Goa. Travelguru, India's leading travel portal, said that it is handling 30 bookings a day, compared to 5 to 10 bookings in off season.

The five-star hotels in Goa have jacked the rates up by 25 per cent, whereas four- and three-star hotels have increased them by 15 per cent, said Travelguru CEO Ashwin Damera. Internationally, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Egypt score as the most sought travel destinations.

Cox & Kings is expecting more tourists to visit the Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai, as it kicks off in December.People are also willing to explore new destinations, besides these traditional family destinations.

Karan Anand revealed that Cox & Kings are coming with exciting packages to Mauritius and Maldives, which are picking up. Indian Airlines has also announced that it would start direct Bangalore-Male flights from November with an introductory offer of Rs 10,000. This would make Maldives very attractive. It has a lot of potential
as a honeymoon market.

Thomas Cook too is offering new package tours to Turkey, Fiji, Bora Bora and Korea, recording most of the bookings for Turkey.

On the other hand Star Cruises is also seeing an upward trend in bookings this season, its three-night cruise to Kadmat in Lakshadweep has received tremendous response from passengers for this new year. Star Cruises has revised its planned route from four nights, two nights and one night last year to three nights, two nights and one night this year and the rates are also lower.