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The year 2013 is on its way out but are we really planning a blast to ring in the New Year? The good news is – Indians are still undeterred by the falling <keyword id="6355302" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rupee">rupee</keyword> and looking forward to outbound travel in the coming holidays, just like they did this summer. But the way they travel is definitely changing, according to a senior executive of a Delhi-based <keyword id="6607315" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="OTA">OTA</keyword>. Overseas travel no longer means the ritual rush through <keyword id="6357117" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="bangkok">Bangkok</keyword> or <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> – the global destinations closest to home and perhaps the least expensive. Of course, these places are not yet marked off the list, but the experienced and the well-heeled seem to have caught the travel bug of a different kind. 
 <keyword id="1960912" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Offbeat-destinations">Offbeat destinations</keyword> are getting increasingly popular among Indians, says Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president (marketing &amp; product strategy) at ixigo.com, a travel planning site and search engine that aggregates and curates travel information to help consumers. 
 “Of the 2.5 million visitors coming to our site month on month, we see some very clear and emerging trends. While the <keyword id="1960914" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Regular-overseas-travellers">regular overseas travellers</keyword> are increasingly looking at offbeat destinations to try out something different, first-timers or those who haven’t ventured outside the country too much, are still looking at <keyword id="1960915" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Popular-destinations">popular destinations</keyword> like Bangkok, Singapore, <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> and <keyword id="6355478" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Australia">Australia</keyword> – the main attractions being <keyword id="6396451" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="beaches">beaches</keyword>, <keyword id="60543" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Water-sports">water sports</keyword> and <keyword id="6368952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="shopping">shopping</keyword>,” he observes. 
 We have talked to a number of <keyword id="722880" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="travel-agencies">travel agencies</keyword> and rounded up 12 out-of-the-ordinary (but up and coming) places that people are closely following (and booking) these holidays. Here is a quick look at each of them with a glimpse of the local flavour and the basic cost per person on a twin-sharing basis. However, costs are only indicative and are bound to change, depending on your <keyword id="472754" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tour-schedule">tour schedule</keyword>, quality of <keyword id="6358762" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Package">package</keyword>, customisation and service provider. Also, prices may fluctuate as dates get closer. 
 Try planning a holiday if you love these destinations too. Just remember, sometimes, the best travel happens farthest from <keyword id="823132" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="home-and-away">home and away</keyword> from your everyday ambience. Catch the sun on a <keyword id="1553372" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="foreign-soil">foreign soil</keyword> this New Year and bon voyage!

Want To Vacation Abroad? These 12 Places Are Creating The
Buzz These Holidays

In markets across the world, <keyword id="35061" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="housing">housing</keyword> is back in a big way.
But to the chagrin of those living in some of the globe's hottest cities, a booming housing market doesn't always mean that locals are the ones who can afford to buy.
In many cities, foreign buyers - particularly Chinese and Russian investors - are buying up <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> like crazy and driving property prices to pre-financial crisis levels.
Here are four markets being spurred by foreign investors.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-protest-against-austerity-measures-in-front-of-news-photo/164679878">Milos Bicanski/Getty Images</a></div></div>1. Cyprus
Cyprus has its economic issues, but before March's harrowing economic shock, foreign buyers were heading to Cyprus' sunny shores en masse. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-investors-flood-cyprus-2013-2">As the Guardian's John Hooper reported in February</a>, "The carnival will be a way of celebrating a most unusual boom in a country which, like others in southern Europe, has been stricken by the eurozone crisis. Property prices in Cyprus have fallen by around 15% since 2007. Yet an official survey published last month found that between last August and October more than 600 properties were sold to Chinese buyers, 90% of which were in Pafos" - a small Cypriot city.
It will be interesting to see if foreign investors stick around in the beleaguered island nation.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image">Business Insider Video</div></div>2. Brooklyn
New York City's real estate market is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-real-estate-is-hot-right-now-2013-6">red-hot in general</a>, with low inventory juicing big-time bidding wars. But foreign buyers have been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/foreigners-up-cost-of-brooklyn-homes-2013-7">buying up townhouses in Brooklyn</a> in particular, according to <a href="http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2013/07/all-cash-investors-beating-buyers-of-townhouses-in-brooklyn/">Brownstoner</a>. From the report:
We spoke to six real estate agents, four of whom said they had encountered investor groups buying houses to rent out. Some of the firms are European and Israeli, they said. One broker had high praise for one of the private European investment groups he had encountered, a boutique firm with local buyers that focused on buying high end properties with historic detail to rent. He also said that in the first quarter, the bulk of all-cash buyers he dealt with were families, not investors.
One such outfit, operating under the name Newtown Jets, has purchased 24 properties in Brooklyn since March, including 12 in May, according to PropertyShark. The transactions were all over the map geographically and pricewise, from Park Slope ($2,675,000) and Carroll Gardens ($1,699,000) to Bushwick ($662,500 and $599,000).
Few homes, rich buyers, sky-high prices. It's tough to find a place in Brooklyn.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sydney_Australia_.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></div></div>3. Australia
Australia eased some of its federal laws restricting foreign property ownership, and <a href="http://www.realestate.com.au/blog/foreign-buyers-snapping-up-aussie-real-estate/">according to </a><a href="http://www.realestate.com.au/blog/foreign-buyers-snapping-up-aussie-real-estate/">Paul Thornhill at RealEstate.com</a>, the change "has opened the door to a flood of interest from overseas purchasers."
Buyers from Hong Kong, China, and Singapore have been buying up property on Sydney's north shore, Thornhill writes. He lists three reasons why Australian markets are prime for foreign investors:
1. Aussie real estate has proved a secure investment, while perennial favorites - think U.S. shares and European bonds - have been surprisingly volatile.
2. Wealthy families are investing part of their portfolio offshore because of concerns about political stability or the sometimes arbitrary actions of government officials.
3. Purchases are tied in with establishing a residency for a family member in a safe prosperous country like Australia.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image">Enzo Figueres/ Getty Images</div></div>4. London
Real estate price <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/london-real-estate-prices-rest-on-a-towering-stack-of-delusions-2013-10">jumped 10%</a> in October, and a new report from Deutsche Bank shows that much of that price growth has come from foreign investors. Russian and Eastern Europeans have lapped up some of the ultra-pricey homes - considered a "safer" investment than other assets.
In fact, now that foreign buyers comprise 70% of all newly-built property sales in central London, Britain is considering <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/uk-britain-property-tax-idUKBRE99U0B820131031">a capital gains tax on foreign property investors</a>.

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Want To Vacation Abroad? These 12 Places Are Creating The Buzz These Holidays

Sanghamitra Mandal

4 Global Property Markets Where Foreign Elites Are Buying Like Crazy

Steven Perlberg

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