Subraidu was in Calcutta to mark the launch of the Happi Holidays division of Kuoni India in the city. Earlier, this division was launched in six other Indian cities. Happi Holidays had introduced the concept of travelling abroad and paying for it later by equal monthly installments in 1997. Already 2000 people in India have availed themselves of the scheme. The financial part of the scheme is managed by Kotak Mahindra Finance who assess credit worthiness of the traveller and finance the travel. Subraidu said, ``we are trying to build a market base of dedicated customers in India. In Calcutta we found there is a population that is eager to travel and we plan to build up our Calcutta clientele for the long term.'' In the next few years,the company is planning to develop the infrastructure all over India. More offices of the Happi Holidays division are likely to come up soon in the northern and eastern part of the country. Subraidu said, ``we are developing the infrastructure of Happi Holidays independent of the SOTC infrastructure. SOTC is another division of Kuoni India.'' The scheme is open for travellers with a gross monthly income of Rs 9,000 and an existing passport valid for six months beyond the date for completion of the tour. Subraidu said, ``taking an holiday abroad has been one of the highest social desires in India and we are catering to that. The cost factor is one of the biggest barriers and by creating this installment scheme we are trying to break through that.''

SOTC had launched Happi Holidays in 1997. After takeover of SOTC by Kuoni, the scheme was discontinued for some time and was relaunched in October last in six cities. The destinations offered are Europe, USA, Far East, Mauritius, Australia, Dubai.