• What makes a traveler go solo?

    Submitted by ITV Production on Oct 02

    India?s deeply seeded joint family culture has always been an integral part of its people?s lifestyle - be it cooking a feast like meal that everyone can share, shopping as a bunch for the entire family, or traveling. At the cost of overly generalising, one can say that Indians love to travel as a group. However, recently there has been a paradigm shift in the travel space as more and more Indians are opening up to the concept of solo traveling. India has generated quite a number of solo backpackers, gender no bar, who take on the world like a curious child does.

    We Travel Solo, one of India?s solo travellers community is proof of this new trend in India. In order to foster the community, the platform also organises special interest tours to quench the thirst of a perfect solo trip.  We Travel Solo recently conducted a survey with India?s top 100 solo travellers to understand their personal accounts of solo travel.

    1. As per the survey, when asked, ?When and where to was their first solo trip??, 31 per cent solo travellers answered foreign locations like Europe and East Asia as their first solo trip destination, 29 per cent said Himachal as their first solo trip expedition while 27 per cent had coastal beaches of South India as their first place to explore as a solo traveler. The remaining 13 per cent chose to visit Rajasthan, MP, AP and North eastern cities.

    2. It is also interesting to note that 25 per cent attributed it to self-discovery and travel for recreational purposes or lack of company as their reason for solo travel, while 35 per cent said it was a simple getaway, a sabbatical from the mundane job or simply to feed the curiosity. Those who travel solo to meet like minded people form 21 per cent of the total.

    3. When it comes to hot spots for solo traveling destinations, travellers showed preference for Northern, Southern and Western India within the subcontinent. For South-East and Eastern Asia, Indian neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh are chosen as preferred locations and Europe, US and western Asian countries for international travel. Some travellers confine themselves to exploring the remote pockets of India and country life as well.

    4. Thirty two per cent solo travellers said that they felt feeling lonely, homesickness, alienated from co-travellers and the localities, whereas 17 per cent female solo travellers felt insecure due to eve-teasing, ogling and suspicious behaviour. While only 21 per cent solo travellers felt budget pinch as their challenge to solo traveling.

    Other challenges included following culture codes, dealing with unpleasant eventualities, finding vegan food items and overcoming boredom et al. In times like these, solo travellers advise budding ones to be highly circumspect by carrying the required safety gears such as pepper sprays, avoiding strange solitary lanes, conducting a thorough research about the destination and planning well, carrying phones, portable chargers and GPS to track locations and maintain communication with family back home and the handiest tip by far is to keep one?s equilibrium in inopportune times!

    When asked about places they?d like to be stranded in, about 17 per cent travellers preferred mountains (Himalayan ranges) followed by 10 per cent of them longing to be marooned on an island like Jeju Island and Golapogas island. Among other places of interest, were the countryside to revel in the bucolic beauty of the enthralling landscapes, countries like North Korea, Buenos Aires, Italy and intriguingly enough, haunted places!

    WeTravelSolo endeavours to popularise a concept that?s still taking baby steps in a land where independence is at a premium given the vicissitudes of the changing times and hence, aims to know from its populace what it feels about solo expeditions.

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  • Exec Travelogues

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 25

    This weekend, let Exec Lifestyle take you on a trip. As our top media executives share their most memorable traveling experiences, you can imagine yourself taking in the scenic beauty of lake Tahoe in  or the excitement of the live stage in The Cavern Pub, in Liverpool in US where The Beatles took off.

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  • Chat away your travelling worries with GoHeroGo

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 25

    By Papri Das

    Ever felt the jitters right before you travel to a new place -- be it for work or leisure? And if it's a last minute trip, the planning, hotel reservations, ticket bookings, researching for places to see, all the while keeping the budget in check, complicates things further.

    Add to that a huge group of people, each with their quirks and you have yourself a recipe for a pounding headache that will probably last your entire trip. This experience isn?t new to Snehal Dhruve, who was in the corporate world in the US for 10 years before deciding to follow his passion as an entrepreneur. His answer to the travel woes is GoHeroGo, a one stop app for all travel solutions.

    ?I am an avid traveller and no one app or website could ever help me in the research, plan and booking of my next outing. I?ve always been dependent on different tools and spent a lot of time on it. The intention to solve a real problem faced by travellers i.e. inconvenience while researching, planning and booking a travel activity became my inspiration to build this app,? shares Dhruve.

    For his partner Jason Menezes, however, it was all about giving back something to the travelling community, which he has had been part of for several years. Although in line with Dhruve?s plight, Menezes had been personally hassled with the customer experience while booking across channels. ?It seemed as if no travel service provider cared about it while building a platform on mobile, online or offline,? he adds.

    These collective discomfort with the way travellers have to plough through several apps and websites to plan a decent trip inspired the two to come up with GoHeroGo, which was launched to the Android and iOS marker on 1 September. ?It took two months to come up with an app powered with artificial intelligence technology. Our initial challenge was to find the right market fit for our product,? adds Dhruve.

    So how does the app function? It's quite simple actually. You just have to chat. ?GoHeroGo is a chat-based travel concierge app, which uses artificial and human intelligence to fulfil customer requests across multiple categories like researching, planning and booking,? explains Menezes.

    Simply put, just chat with the GoHeroGo team and ask whatever you need for your next travel plan. This includes flight or bus or rail tickets, a to-do itinerary, a cab or auto (subjective to city), trip essentials, restaurants of choice and more. ?Our trained team is standing by 24/7 to handle every request. We simply save you time and money by using artificial + human intelligence to process your request and order via chat,? assures Dhruve.

    What sets this app apart from the collective pile of travel apps is the contextual travel information that the app provides 24X7. ?The app completes the booking on the customer?s behalf from the convenience of chat with real humans. Compare this to any travel app in India and you won?t see these offerings. Our app allows users to share their travel service provider preference for smarter response along with responses in beautifully created information cards,? Menezes explains.

    Powered by their smart backend engine, the app effortlessly curates through many options and chooses the most relevant for users. ?We also have some tie-ups with selective online travel and product aggregators to provide the lowest price guarantee.?

    With so many features, one would wonder how much the app costs. ?The app is free to download and so are its services on iOS and Google Play Store. There are no service charges from us or hidden fees. When you book things through us, you pay lesser than the price if you did it yourself,? comes Dhruve?s surprising response.

    Fresh in the market since its launch at the Android and iOS stores, the app has garnered some patronage as well. ?We?ve got 1000 app downloads on Google Play and 1000 on iOS. We get 20 requests a day with 100 per cent response rate and purchase conversion ratio of five per cent per day,? informs an excited Menezes before signing off.

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  • Ireland's top six shopping destinations

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 11

    Of late, Ireland has emerged as one of the most popular travelling destination in Europe for backpackers and tourists alike. The island country, which is separated from Grain Britain by the North Atlantic Sea, is rich in cultural heritage and is credited for their Celtic Art.

    While its scenic natural beauty, spectacular churches, praise worthy celtic art and Dublin?s Guinness Storehouse draws in tourists in thousands, many don?t know that Ireland is gradually transforming into a shopping hub as well.

    To aid tourists and make them aware of the perks of shopping in Ireland, Tourism Ireland has launched a handy ?Shopping on the Island of Ireland? map. The map, which is compiled after taking references from locals lists local brands that have stood the test of times and represents Ireland as iconic landmarks. Exec Life lists down the shopping destination for our readers, who might have plans to hit the country sometime soon.

    Read on!

    Brown Thomas: Brown Thomas, a landmark on Grafton Street, is Ireland?s most beautiful lifestyle store. It is loved as much by locals as it is by international visitors looking for local and international brands.

    Kildare Village: Kildare Village offers Ireland?s leading luxury outlet shopping experiences with savings of up to 60 per cent in more than 60 boutiques. It is a destination for visitors seeking a superior shopping experience and as an enjoyable day out.

    Waterford Crystal :Since the early 1950s, Waterford has introduced some of the world?s most stylish and best-selling stemware patterns. So wine connoisseurs and goblet collectors know where to head.

    Orla Kiely : Orla Kiely?s famous prints are often seen on celebrities including Kiera Knightly and Kirsten Dunst, and she has collaborated with companies like Apple and Citro?n.

    Newbridge Silverware: For 70 years, Newbridge Silverware has been designing and product quality giftware and jewellery and is associated with high profile names such as legendary actress Audrey Hepburn.

    Irish Whiskey Stones: Located in the foothills of Connemara?s mountains lies the world famous Joyce?s Marble Quarry. The marble is cut and brought to Hennessy & Byrne Marble Works to craft into whiskey stones.

    To take a better look at where these points are located, here?s the map:

    https://www.sendspace.com/file/vrf5hn

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  • Lite Bite Foods HMSHost to pump Rs 100 crore in developing travel destinations

    Submitted by ITV Production on Sep 04

    The Foods and Beverages (F&B) industry in India is expected to get a massive boost from new international and domestic outlet launches at retail destinations like airport, train stations and highways across the country.

    The joint venture between Lite Bite Foods and HMSHost is expected to pump in Rs 100 crores in reinventing the outlets at the various travel destinations in India.

    This JV, which will operate under the name Lite Bite Foods HMSHost, will be based out of Gurgaon in Delhi.

    HMSHost?s presence across the dynamic F&B markets in the world, permeates Lite Bite Foods entry in new markets. The association combines the global resources and expertise of HMSHost and Lite Bite Foods, and will capitalise on the strong reputation HMSHost has developed as a leading provider of food and beverage services for travellers.

    Lite Bite Foods? overseas chains are Baker's Street, Punjab Grill and Fresc Co, and Autogrill, which are among the oldest F&B service provider for travellers across the globe.

    Lite Bite Foods chairman Amit Burman is hopeful that the new company has the combined value of Autogrill's international expertise and Lite Bite Foods' extensive local market and cuisine knowledge and network of established outlets. ?This agreement represents each organisation?s strong commitment to provide the best F&B retail experience to our consumers across all travel channels. Together, we will bring an exciting new force to the country's travel food retail industry and revolutionise this emerging channel,? he adds.

    Lite Bite Foods CEO Sharad Sachdeva said, ?With millions of passengers travelling annually, the transit hubs like airports and railway stations have become a strategic location for our brand?s presence. We are very excited about this JV and this association will definitely help extend our brand in neighbouring countries as well.?

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  • Tripadvisor reveals 2015 travelers choice favourites for India

    Submitted by ITV Production on Aug 21

    For the new age traveller, digital devices have become an integral part of their travel experience. From hotel bookings to tour guides, one can now plan their whole trip online. With these changing dynamics, people?s travel habits are being greatly influenced. This has also made it easier to keep track of the emerging trends in the world of travel. Travel site Tripadvisor recently held an award show, which studied the preferences of the new age traveller and chose their favourite products and services.

    ?TripAdvisor has identified the Travelers? Choice Favorites as recommended by our insightful global community. These award-winning products and services, voted on by our community, are the ?must have items? to consider bringing on your next trip,? said TripAdvisor chief marketing officer Barbara Messing.

    Winners are from countries like India, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US, across dozens of categories including airline, rental car agency, transportation app, GPS device, luggage, and outerwear.

    TripAdvisor India country manager Nikhil Ganju added, ?As a traveler there are certain brands one cannot do without. The brands that have been voted the favorites this year belong to this category and the fact that been chosen by a community of avid travelers makes them an integral part of any travel planning.?   In India, winners from cab service, camera, travel magazine to selfie stick were named in 27 categories.

    Here?s a list of the awards and their winners chosen by the travel site that showcases the emerging trends amongst the global tourist:

     

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