Experiential tourism is the flavour of today and is here to stay: Nitin Mittal, Co-Founder & CEO, Hotel N Apartment
Gone are the days when I would only travel to Paris to visit the Eiffel Tower or walk down the Champs De Elysees. I would also much rather take a train to Vienne (18 minutes train out of Lyon) and visit the Roman amphitheatres or surf through the boutique shops in Bourg-en-Bresse (in Bourgogne region).
Experiential tourism is the flavour of today & it is here to stay. The modern-day traveller has redefined the parameters to satisfy one’s wanderlust. It is no longer a tick-in-the-box place but more of things/activities which one has dreamt of doing. These are out-of-the-box experiences which gives a traveller the long-sought satisfaction & happiness.
My pick of the topmost experiential travel destinations-
Adventure Sports:
1. Bungee Jumping : (Lake Taupo, New Zealand)
2. Para Jumping: Across the Namib Desert (Namibia)/ Swiss Alps, Interlaken
3. Scuba Diving: Ari Atoll, Maldives
Ecotourism:
1. Plitvice National Park (near Zagreb, Croatia)
2. Watch the grandeur of the Indian Tiger at Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan
Millennial Tours:
Pop/Movie Cultural Tours: The Millenial tourist travels across the globe to attend concerts & festivals of their favourite pop groups viz. Guns N Roses or Aerosmith concert, BTS K-POP concert is very popular and a must for the millennials.
Sporting Tours: Attending the Wimbledon Finals @ Centre Court, ICC World Cup at Lords or PGA tourney would be a dream come true for a sports fanatic.
Lifestyle Tours: Most of the upwardly mobile middle class would go to any extent to satisfy small dreams – as for me I would do anything to stay at the famous Old Course@St.Andrew. There would be many eager to take part in all the prestigious marathons across the world (for eg. the Abbott World Marathon Majors).
Plantation Tours:
1. Tea Plantation- Whether it is the aromatic flavour of the Darjeeling Tea or the Strong flavour of the Nilgiris or Sri Lankan British Tea, experiencing life at the Tea gardens can be a very fulfilling experience. Hence most of the large tea companies have converted a part of the tea estates into resorts with plantation visits & tea- tasting as one of the many offerings.
2. Vineyard experience- The Burgundy region, famous for its Burgundy wines has become the source of tourist attraction primarily on the basis of their globally acclaimed wines.
3. Scotch tour- Apart from the beauty of the Scottish Highlands, die-hard fans of the Single Malt whisky would go the extra mile to visit the fabled distilleries viz. Oban Distillery, Ben Nevis Distillery & Dalwhinnie Distillery to name a few.
Experiential Travel tugs at the strings of the heart of every discerning traveller who has all along been fantasizing about all these experiences since childhood but was unable to accomplish the same for various reasons. The modern-day wanderlust traveller lives by the day and wants to achieve & accomplish all his ambitions and experience such dreams which were hitherto labelled as ‘wishful thinking’. Bon Voyage!
