By Nirmal Ghosh, Lee Tee Jong, P. Jayaram, Kwan Wend Kin, Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Peh Shing Huei

For years now, South Koreans have been avid globe-trotters, riding the Duck Tours in Singapore, snapping pictures of the Eiffel Tower in France, and cruising down the Nile in Egypt.

But this is changing.

The credit crunch, fears of retrenchment, wage cuts and the pall cast by the global economic crisis are putting the brakes on many a holiday plan.

"Last year, our branch received an average of 60 bookings a day for tours all over the world," said Mr Kim Ki Hoong, a sales manager with Sejong Tours, one of the bigger operators in South Korea. "It has dwindled to about 40 a day."

The trend is reflected in official data. The 1.2 million Koreans who did holiday abroad in August were a 7.7% fall from the same month last year, noted the Korea National Tourism Organisation.

The numbers were even worse in September - 820,000, or 18%, down from one million last year.

Add the impact of the plummeting Korean currency and the figures look set to fall further. The worst performer in Asia, the Korean won has shed 35% of its value against the US dollar this year.

"Previously, I needed to set aside only half a month's salary to bring my family to holiday in Singapore," said Mr Cho Yong Chol, 40, an assistant bank manager who earns 4.5 million won (S$4,800) a month. Now, he needs at least two-thirds of his monthly wage to pay for air fare and lodgings for his family of four.

Chinese writer Vera Wang, 29, said she used to spend most of her pay each month, "but now, I am saving some because I'm worried".

Such decisions, made far away in Korea and China, have a direct impact on countries whose economies are boosted by the tourist dollar, including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Countries like Thailand, noted associate director Oliver Martin of industry body Pacific Asia Travel Association, rely heavily on mass-market package tourists.

"This is your middle-income and middle- class market and this is very much the market that's been affected by their mortgages, potential job losses."

And with outbound numbers from Asian countries dropping, tourist establishments across Asia - from the massage parlour in Thailand to the five-star hotel in Bali - can expect a tougher time.

"It looks bad," said Mr Zhao Xinqiang, vice-general manager of Sunrise Travel Service in China. "We used to be packed with travel bookings for the Chinese New Year by this time of the year. There has been about a 20% dip."

Things are not much better in Japan, where the number of outbound holidaymakers is also falling. In the September- October period, the number of Japanese going abroad was about 9.5% lower than in the same period last year.

But there are some bright spots. In India, it seems, it is holidays as usual. Industry projections show the number going abroad is poised to touch 12 million this year, about four million higher - a 50% growth - than last year.

"I don't see any decline in outbound tourism, except maybe a 5 to 10% drop in traffic to the US," said Mr Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators and chairman of STIC travel group.

Driving the growth are a rapidly expanding and increasingly wealthy middle class and a consumption-driven economy. Last week's terrorist attack in Mumbai may deter inbound tourism, but not outbound, said industry players.

According to a Nielsen India survey, Singapore is the top destination for Indians, followed by Dubai, Australia and Malaysia.

Last year, 749,000 Indians visited the Lion City, maintaining an annual growth rate topping 10% for the past three years. "Earlier, Singapore was mainly a shopping centre for Indian tourists," said Mr Goyal. "Now, it is a business centre too."

In Japan, although outbound numbers have dipped, the strengthening yen has made going abroad cheaper for the Japanese, and travel agencies are hoping for improving numbers in the next two months. "As we head towards the usual year- end peak, we expect to see healthy sales," said a spokesman for JTB, Japan's largest travel agency.