Enjoy foreign trip, pay in EMIs

To go on a foreign tour for vacation is no longer a dream. This vacation enjoy with your family in Bangkok and pay in EMIs, this mantra being chanted by travel agencies to attract customers who wish to go to Bangkok and Malaysia but unable to afford the trip.

The agencies, in alliance with banks, are offering loan facilities for customers to pay for membership in holiday clubs.

Sony Mehta, the owner of Skyline Travels, pointed out that they are providing loan through a tie-up with ICICI Bank.

"We have tied up with ICICI Bank for personal loans. Our customers can pay EMIs according to their convenience. The trend of taking loans for vacations is slowly catching on as several people want to visit places such as Singapore, Mauritius and Bangkok but cannot get the money up front," Mehta said.

He added this has also made possible for the middle class, "easier even for the middle class to enjoy foreign tours, which was not a possibility some time ago".

"They can take a loan for a trip and, in some cases, need to pay EMIs of only Rs 3,200 for three years. This is an easy system," Mehta added.

The travel agent reported that this season the craze to travel abroad on vacations has increased. "We already have 10 clients who are going to Bangkok on bank loans," Mehta added.

Neeraj Singh, the proprietor of Club Mahendra Holidays, said they have introduced a 25-year membership option. Membership fee ranges from Rs 1.31 lakh to Rs 6.65 lakh.

"We have 3,700 resorts all over the country and a member can holiday in any one of our resorts located at places such as Manali, Goa and Bangkok. We have facilities such as kitchens at these resorts," said Singh. Apart from this members can also get a week of free holiday every year.

Regarding the loan repayments Singh said, members can pay EMIs of Rs 3,201. "This summer, demand has been pouring in for memberships and we have approximately 300 to 400 members in Jharkhand. More are joining," Singh added. Anuj Kapoor, a government official, has also planned spending his summer holiday at Bangkok.

"It was through our friend that we learnt about the loan facility for holidays. My family was quite happy to hear about such an option," Kapoor added.