NEW DELHI: Vishal Singh, a 27-year-old Gurgaon-based analyst, looks finally set for his Turkish sojourn this year. The stunning sights of Cappadocia and its magical balloon rides had been on Singh’s wishlist for a while.He finally made up his mind after assessing the Turkish Lira’s steady decline against the Indian rupee this year. The financial crisis in Turkey and the Lira’s depreciation against the rupee have helped him firm up his plans. The dramatic fall of the Indian rupee against the dollar has made INR-friendly destinations the new hotspots for leisure travellers.The rupee has been Asia’s worst performing currency so far this year and crossed the 70 threshold against the dollar on August 16. However, countries where the local currency is not as strong against the Indian rupee have become the new popular spots for holidays for Indians. Over the last few months, there has been a weakening of the South African Rand by 10%, the Turkish Lira by over 60% and the Indonesian Rupiah by 4-5%, said Karan Anand, head of relationships at Cox & Kings.”This provides travellers an opportunity to shift their choice of destinations to take advantage of this opportunity and book deals. We anticipate that this winter, demand for destinations such as South Africa, Turkey, Egypt and Bali will gain traction,” Anand said. Sharat Dhall, COO, B2C at Yatra.com said Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia are the destinations that have seen a pick-up, whereas UK, Europe the US, Singapore, Hong Kong are seeing some pressure as currency trends have moved.”There is an increase in demand for destinations that are cheaper,” Dhall said. Compared to other currencies like the US dollar and the Euro, even the Australian dollar has remained quite stable over the last one year coming down from over Rs 60 a year ago to Rs 51on Monday. “This gives us a competitive advantage. While over the last four years the growth in business was 16%, in the first five months of this year we have seen a growth of 22%. Travellers can buy more for less and depreciation has helped us drive numbers,” said Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia.The South African Rand, currently hovering around Rs 4.78, and cheaper accomodation options in the country have led to an increase in queries for South Africa. “Since the South African products come in Rand and not USD, Indian travellers are able to buy more experiences and activities for less money, making South Africa a value-for-money destination,” said Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head for Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, South African Tourism.More Indians are putting South Africa on their annual travel itineraries like Mumbai based chartered accountant Aafaq Bhatri. Bhatri chose South Africa because it was cost effective and is steering clear of the US and Europe this year. “I may consider Turkey. Currency movements can alter budgets significantly,” he said. The town of Oudtshoorn, one of the new towns of South Africa that has a total residential population of close to 100,000, has already been host to over 30,000 Indian travelers so far this year.