Clubbing business with pleasure may not be easy for everyone but many Indian travellers are now mixing pilgrimage with holidaying as they look to maximise travel and cost opportunities while those headed abroad are increasingly opting for budget-friendly destinations such as Vietnam. Visits to religious tourism spots like Puri and Konark, for example, are clubbed with tourist destinations like Chilika Lake or Bhubaneswar while those visiting Tirupati and Kanyakumari may also visit Kodaikanal or Yercaud, and Rishikesh is being clubbed with Dehradun, Almora or other hill stations in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, travel industry executives told ET.Internationally, destinations like Vietnam are fast gaining popularity among Indian families, thanks to better accessibility and connectivity with direct flights and faster e-visa processing, they said. 97608922Destinations such as Dubai and Bali, which have always been popular among Indians, have “become overcrowded and frightfully expensive while Vietnam is much cheaper”, said Rekha Melwani, director at hospitality firm Right Connections.Travel companies and tour operators say Sri Lanka, the ‘pearl of Indian Ocean’, will soon make a comeback as a popular destination for Indians, recovering from its economic doldrums. Locations like Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island and Kazakhstan are also expected to join the next go-to destinations for Indians, they said.”We have been seeing an increased enthusiasm for exploring newer and lesser-known destinations,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, holiday home rental major Airbnb’s general manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. “More than two years since the start of the pandemic, we continue to see fundamental shifts in travel that are creating tangible opportunities for communities that lay off-the-beaten track,” he said.According to Airbnb’s internal data, the idea of escaping to a foreign land will continue to be on the bucket list for many Indians this year. 97608927Popular international destinations like Dubai, Thailand, Bali, Maldives, and Turkey continue to draw huge number of travellers from India. “These attractive destinations cannot be displaced from the top,” said Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer of travel company MakeMyTrip. At the same time, places like Vietnam with its familiar Asian culture are attracting more Indian tourists, Prakash said. A budget-friendly southeast Asian country, Vietnam is not only rich in nature, culture, and history but also makes travel easier by providing e-visa within 2-3 days and transit visa on arrival, said Melwani of Right Connections.