Tourists feed milk to a tiger cub at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, in Chonburi province, Thailand, June 7, 2016.Reuters file 
Tourists take selfie on a street near Patong beach in Phuket, Thailand March 19, 2016.Reuters file 
A bumboat passes tourists at the Merlion Park in Singapore, February 22, 2016.Reuters file 
Tourists gather on Kuta beach near Denpasar in Bali, February 8, 2014.Reuters file
Your annual summer vacation to destinations like Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or any overseas destination could get a tad cheaper, thanks to the improving rupee-dollar exchange rate.
On March 21, the Indian rupee closed at 65.30 to the US dollar, appreciating yet again after Monday. While exporters may just not want the rupee to appreciate since it hurts their bottomline, it's good news for vacationers.
It's simple: if the rupee appreciates, an overseas traveller needs to pay less for every dollar he purchases.
This is one gift travellers would never have imagined, more so when many analysts had predicted the rupee to perform badly in view of many global headwinds. Their primary argument was flight of capital by foreign investors after the US Federal Reserve hikes interest rates, triggering a sharp depreciation in rupee. For now, nothing of that sort seems to be happening.
Overseas hotspots for Indians
A recent report by hotel booking portal Hotels.com said that Bangkok, Dubai and Singapore are top destinations for Indian travellers.
A look at some of the countries in the Asian region that Indians prefer to travel to in large numbers:
| Country | Number of Indian visitors in 2016 | Number of Indian visitors in 2015 |
| Dubai | 1 80 million | 1.60 million |
| Thailand | 1.19 million | 1 million |
| Singapore | 1.1 million | 1 million |
| Malaysia | 0.64 million | 0.72 million |
| Indonesia | 0.35 million (target) | 0.26 million |
Source: Tourism promotion boards, travel portals
In the first six months of calendar year 2016, Indians visiting Singapore spent $545 million, up 41 percent from the corresponding period a year ago, the PTI had reported last November, citing Singapore government data.
Malaysia, which lags behind Singapore and Thailand in wooing Indian travellers, wants to improve air connectivity via AirAsia, Singapore Airlines and Malindo Air to address the situation. It has also launched e-tourist visas valid for 15 days to lure more Indian travellers to the country. The scheme waives visa fee so that Indians have to pay only the processing fee.
"We are looking at attracting 1 million visitors from India this year and have announced a visa fee waive off-except for a processing charge of USD 20. This single visa is valid for a period of 15 days," Datuk Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, director general, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, had said in Mumbai last month, according to the TravelBizMonitor.
"The close cultural ties between the two countries and cultural affinity between our people can reach even greater heights through tourism," the Indian Express had quoted him as saying early this month. Malaysia recorded 25.7 million tourist arrivals in 2015, of which 0.72 million (7.22 lakh) were Indians.
