The Forum has announced the one-document-fits-all visa system for countries of what remains fondly known as Indo-China is just around the corner.
The booming tourist industries of Thailand and Vietnam are pushing harder than ever and Laos and Cambodia are aboard. Even Burma (it's hard to call it Myanmar) sees merit in the concept but will probably be last on board, if at all.
More on that subject later.
Bali high
Despite continuing ominous rumblings of “travel advisories'' from our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) the number of Australians rediscovering Bali is through the roof.
The Island of the Gods and limitless terrestrial treats is back, rating second place on our Asian destination preference chart with a whopping 206,427 Australian residents travelling there in 2007, or 80,000 more than the previous year.
“The trend has been strong throughout the year and is continuing,'' says Garuda Indonesia's general manager here, Poerwoko Soeparyono.
It's little wonder when you consider the bargain basement packages cobbled together by the airline and a whole range of resort and hotel properties and local tour operators.
Garuda Indonesia flies 27 times from Australia to Bali each week, either direct to Denpasar or via Jakarta.
Talk to them on 1300 365 331, see a travel agent or visit the excellent compendium www.BalionANYbudget.com.au
If you can make it there …
Once synonymous with street crime, no-go ghettoes and the butt of a zillion bad jokes, New York, the Big Apple, shed all that aeons ago and, for this oft-jaded world gallivanter, became, and remains, a favourite destination.
Sure, it's an extra three thousand or so clicks away by air, and it was always hard to convince diehard west coast fans to make the extra effort, especially if the prime lure was Hollywood or Disneyland but New York is now outdoing LA, with visitor programs which dim the stars on that famous walkway.
Explore Holidays has just unveiled a three-hour New York TV and movie sites tour visiting over 40 locations used for more than 60 shows and movies.
These include Will & Grace, The Cosby Show, Ghostbusters, The Devil Wears Prada and The Apprentice for a shade over $40 a head.
More in-focus Sex & The City Hotspots and Sopranos Sites tours are also available priced about the same.
Obviously, you have to get yourself over there to take advantage. And, to be fair to Explore, there are still some compelling showbiz-linked programs in Los Angeles.
Talk to a licensed travel agent or visit www.exploreholidays.com.au
Chilly, anyone?
Earlybird bookings once again deliver huge savings, this time up to 15 per cent off a Cruiseco program which combines Antarctica and the Chilean Fjords NEXT January from $6795pp twin-share.
The 700-passenger luxury adventure cruiser Discovery (pictured) will sail from Ushuaia and spend four full days visiting Antarctica's Deception and King George Islands, Antarctic Sound, Hope Bay, Gerlache Strait, Paradise Harbour, the Lemaire Channel and Half Moon Island.
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You also get two pre-cruise nights in mind-blowing Buenos Aires, the Drake Passage, Cape Horn and the Beagle Channel, Punta Arenas, Puerto Mont, the Chilean Fjords and alpine Lake District, Valparaiso, and two nights in Santiago.
The tour begins in Buenos Aires on January 11.
Air travel is extra. Call 1800 225 656.
www.cruising.com.au
Tahiti for two
A Tahiti honeymoon is dreamy enough but it will become a memory forever if you take it on the exclusive luxury motor cat Haumana (pictured).
Coral Seas Travel has five-night packages including at include return air and taxes ex-Sydney, with two bonus nights in the upmarket Radisson Plaza Tahiti, in Papeete, and the Haumana cruise on Rangiroa Lagoon.
The price also includes all onboard French/Polynesian dining, wines with lunch and dinner, all non-alcoholic drinks throughout the cruise, escorted shore excursions and guided fishing, watersports, nightly Polynesian entertainment - even a picnic at tables set up in the shallow waters of an uninhabited island.
Pay from $5299pp twin-share and if you produce proof you're a newly-wed you get your own private dinner on deck.
Call 8236 9900 for full details.
Economiclio
Renault's Clio Diesel, which is ideal for two or three people on a self-drive holiday around Europe, is now available from $1500 for 29-days, anytime this year, through Holiday Autos.
Based on rack rates, that equates to getting eight days free of charge or a saving of 25 per cent if booked before March 31.
You can collect your vehicle any time up until December 31 free of delivery and return charges at 20 depots in France, and with 50 per cent off these charges at 14 other centres on the continent and London. If you're a repeat customer you qualify for another three days rental-free. Renault also has vehicles for larger groups and families.
For full details phone 1300 55 44 32 or check-out www.holidayautos.com.au | 
