[top: Enjoy the great outdoors, unspoiled nature and cold weather of Hokkaido.]

By Lynn Seah

Chan Brothers Travel

Chan Brothers is offering six-day tours to Seoul and the lovely island of Jeju in South Korea from $648, up to 40 per cent off the usual price. Couples get an additional $188 off an eight-day Perth and south-west self-drive package, which is priced from $1,338 upwards. And if you want to make a pilgrimage with a friend to the Hobbiton Movie Set, seen in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, one of you can get 20 per cent off the price of an eight day tour of New Zealand's North Island, which starts from $2,738.

CTC Holidays

See the unique Blue Mosque in Turkey at prices starting from $1,718 for a 10-day Best of Turkey tour. Or if you prefer to go east, you can visit Beijing, home of the Forbidden City, during the eight-day tour, costing $888 and upwards, that also includes the cities of Tianjin and Xiamen. CTC Holidays is also offering a three-day package at The Venetian in Macau for $468 and upwards as well as a seven-day tour of Korea's west coast from $938.

Beijing's famed Forbidden City has a long history.

Five Stars Tours

Experience Korea in spring time from $698 for six days. Apart from seasonal cherry-blossom viewing and cultural activities like kimchi making and dressing up in the traditional Korean hanbok, this package includes visits to two theme parks - the Disneylandlike Everland, and the Phoenix Blue Canyon Water Theme Park.

Ueno Park in Tokyo is one of the most famous cherry-blossom viewing spots in Japan.

JTB Singapore

Visit some of the most famous cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan, such as Ueno Park in Tokyo, Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto and Osaka Castle, with Japanese travel agency JTB. Opt for its six-day tour of the Kansai region (usual price from $2,388, now $2,018 plus $430 for fuel and taxes) or track the blooms from Kyoto to Tokyo in the seven-day Cherry Blossom Trail package (usual price from $2,888, now $2,418 plus $430 for fuel and taxes).

Konsortium Express & Tours

Comedian and foodie Moses Lim will lead a special seven-day tour to Adelaide in April. The itinerary includes many food related stops such as Melba's Chocolate Factory, Bereenberg Strawberry Farm, Trevor Jones Winery, and Maggie Beer's - The Farm Shop where you can purchase delectable p?t?s, cheeses and wood-fired breads. The package also includes a cruise on the Murray River with two nights' stay on a houseboat and a gala dinner at beachside restaurant Scampi's.

New Shan Travel Service

Travel to the many World Heritage sites in Nepal on a six-day tour. Visit bustling Shanghai and scenic Suzhou and Hangzhou on an eight-day tour of the Jiangnan and Huangshan region in China. Or see the World War II memorials in Okinawa on a five-day tour. These are some of the packages with Chinese-speaking guides that New Shan is promoting.

Follow Me Japan

Follow Me Japan is a unit of Prime Travel & Tour that specialises in tours to Japan. At Natas Travel, it is promoting packages to Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, where you can enjoy the great outdoors, unspoiled nature and bracing cold weather. Its eight-day Fly & Drive Hokkaido Song of Spring package is going for $2,788 plus $450 for taxes and fuel surcharge, while its six-day Hokkaido Retreat package is $2,338 plus $450 for taxes and fuel surcharge.

See the the ancient monuments in Egypt.

Hong Thai Travel

See the great pyramids and the sphinx, and ride a camel in the Sahara Desert on a 10-day tour of Egypt (usual price: $2,488, now $2,188). For a holiday closer to home, there is the four-day Sabah package (usual price $699, now $499). You can snorkel in the crystal-clear waters around Pulau Sapi and try to
catch sight of the endangered proboscis monkey during a rainforest cruise.

UOB Travel

Get a free return ferry ticket to Bintan when you book a stay of at least two nights on the island. A nine-day tour of Rajasthan starts from $1,598 plus $452 for taxes. You can experience three different hot spring baths in seven days on a tour of Hokkaido and Tokyo (from $2,208 plus $480 for taxes). An exclusive nine-day itinerary for Turkey and Cyprus incorporates a buggy tour of the city of Safranbolu, a Unesco World Heritage site (from $2,498 plus $500 for taxes).

ASA Holidays

Would you like to see the setting of William Shakespeare's Hamlet or locations featured in Korean dramas on your holidays? Perhaps a tour of some of the most well known cities in Japan is more up your alley. You might just find your dream holiday at a dream price at ASA Holidays' booth.

WTS Travel & Tours

Okinawa may be less frequented by Singaporeans compared to places like Hokkaido and Kyoto, but this group of islands between mainland Japan and Taiwan is worth a visit, if only because it is so different from the rest of Japan. It boasts its own language and customs as well as fine beaches and is the only place in Japan with a sub-tropical climate. You can experience the uniqueness of Okinawa on WTS Travel & Tours' five-day tour of the prefecture.

This article was first published in The Straits Times Special. It is produced by the Special Projects Unit, Marketing Division, SPH.