Tourism in India dropped steeply during the last week of November due to the terrorist strikes in Mumbai but remains unaffected by the global financial crisis, say tourism management gurus.

International traffic dropped by about 10 per cent and domestic traffic by about 24 per cent compared to the same period last year, predominantly as a result of the terror attack in the country's financial hub Mumbai, says Himanshu Singh, managing director, travelocity.co.in, an online portal.

Foreign destinations, however, are being preferred by domestic tourists, ahead of the holiday season, Singh says.

"Interestingly, we are seeing some good pick up in international holiday bookings over the last 10 days. A reason could be the perception of international destinations being safer than domestic ones for Christmas and New Year getaways, as an aftermath of the terror attacks on Mumbai," he says.

At a time when industries across the world have been affected by financial crisis and companies are laying off employees, the travel industry has been flourishing. A key player that has been showing maximum enthusiasm is the middle-income group, he says.

The travel market in India has witnessed growth worth $1.75 billion in 2007-08 and is expected to grow to $6 billion by 2010, says Scott Blume, chief executive officer, Zuji, a travel portal.

"The travel market has great growth opportunity. Even during the time of 9/11 or SARS outbreak in Asia, travellers worked closely with online travel agents as there was more speed and value in this market and cost effective distribution" says Blume.

Over 30 per cent of all domestic air tickets in 2007-08 were booked online, he says.

Travel portals have the advantage of updating and informing consumers about availability, updated prices, new offers etc within a very short span of time. This facility can be really beneficial to hotels and airlines during a financial downturn, he says.

On the recent crunch situation in air travel, Singh says there are opportunities in India beyond domestic air travel.

"I feel opportunities in India are huge. There exist good opportunities for business beyond domestic air, and we have had good success with international flights, hotels and dynamic packaging as customers look for greater choice and control on their travel," he says.

India as a nation is aware of the benefits of online booking of air tickets, hotels, even though internet penetration is fairly low.

"At over 46 million internet users, India's Internet population, though fairly nascent, is greater than population of some smaller countries. India's $1.75 billion travel market is the fourth largest in Asia Pacific.

"According to a report, tourism market in India is actually ahead of China, Korea and Taiwan," he says.

One of the main targets of online bookings -- the middle income group -- has been responding quite well to the benefits being offered by it, he says.

"There are several benefits for the middle income group -- control over your travel plans, convenience to book from anywhere and anytime, transparent prices and choice of several airlines, hotels and activities to suit every budget."

Even budget travellers have a large bouquet of travel options to choose from, which allows people to select date of travel, class of flight they desire, and even the type of room in any hotel of their choice, all within their budget.

Customers even have the choice to pay in rupee without conversion to foreign currency, Blume says.

"Today, portals provide competitive pricing with right kind of travel package for various budgets, convenience through tremendous planning flexibility, widest range of choices with over 500 airline options, several thousand hotels and many varieties of activities", Singh says.

Travel portals in India are working together with several international tourism boards to promote Indian destinations in US, Europe and Asia Pacific, he says.

"The online travel network offers great opportunity for domestic tourism boards, hoteliers and airlines to promote themselves according to the desired effect and keeping the target audience in mind," he adds.