NEW DELHI: India has become a more attractive destination amid the sharp depreciation in the rupee and the continuing unrest in global tourist hotspots such as Egypt and Turkey, the uptick in bookings for this winter shows. Tour operators say with the rupee breaching the 61 mark against the US dollar , enquiries are pouring in and bookings have already risen by 15% compared with the previous year."India is definitely cheaper this season. Uptake of bookings for winter is better by at least 10-12%," says Arjun Sharma, managing director of TUI India . The plunging rupee spells a discount of 15% to foreign travellers in many of India's large source markets such as Europe, enhancing India's appeal, even as domestic travellers have been forced to cut back on their plans to visit these destinations."We are able to give better value offers to our partners in global markets," says Rajeev Kohli, joint managing director of Creative Travel, which has seen a 15% increase in bookings for this winter. Sharma says at least 10-15% more chartered aircraft are expected to arrive into Indian destinations this winter."There is definitely a perceived advantage today for India," says Arup Sen, director special projects at Cox & Kings. Bookings at hotels have also gone up for this year's winter. "At many of our leisure destinations, people are booking ahead of time to take advantage of the weak rupee," says Dilip Puri, India managing director at Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels and Resorts, which runs brands such as Sheraton and Le Meridien in the country.The unrest in Egypt and Turkey, says Dipak Deva, chief executive officer of Kuoni Destination Management for India & South Asia , is positively impacting business for India's beach destinations in Goa and Kerala. Some operators may divert charter traffic to these destinations, he says.Travellers planning to visit Egypt have been forced to alter their plans in the wake of the recent coup by the army. The uprising in the country last year had pushed up hotel occupancies in Goa and Kerala by 20%, compared with 2011, as more tourists arrived from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and other Eastern European countries.Tourists from these countries have for long frequented beaches of Egypt on the Mediterranean and Red seas such as Naama Beach in Sharm el-Sheikh. This had also compensated for the lower numbers from traditional markets."In the current economic environment in Europe, any discount will trigger interest," says Deva. However, the government needs to launch focused advertising and a promotion overdrive in the source markets, he says, adding that getting an Indian visa also remains a cumbersome process in many markets.