Adman in Baltimore talks about holidays in Kerala

Can you re-live one experience back home in India, linked to a dream vacation?

The backwaters of Kerala got me hooked as soon as I took my first boat ride with my parents from Vaikom to Kochi. It was almost like a dream; I was just a child then. I had to wait many more years for another visit, on a Coir Board photography assignment in Kerala. The trip coincided with the famous Nehru Boat Race at Alappuzha, and that made things all the more interesting.

The call of the backwaters

For me, personally, the call of the backwaters didn’t stop with that trip. I did go back to Kumarakom, many times – and the last trip in 2018 was extraordinary. For one whole day, I was drifting about the Kumarakom Kayal with my family and friends – with not a worry in the world. Keeping me company of course, was a glass of fresh toddy – neat for extra comfort! The Pulikkattil houseboat ride was like no other – an unforgettable experience worth doing all over again.

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Message of the Month / February 2021

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Conversations with Priyanka Rastogi – author of “Early Sunrise, Early Sunset”

Priyanka Rastogi

Priyanka Rastogi is an author and travel entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in Tourism & Hospitality. She has just published her first book Early Sunrise, Early Sunset : Tales of a Solo Woman Traveler Across North East and East India. The book is an outcome of more than 100 trips done in the region over last 6 years.

Priyanka is an IATA qualified travel and tourism professional with industry experience across contracting, sales, operations, customer care and product development in the domestic travel sector. She has held senior level positions in India Hotel Review, Goibibo and Stayzilla. As a senior marketing manager at Goibibo, she was in charge of operations in the east and north east region – directly responsible for 1200 properties.

Priyanka is currently involved in the incubation of kiomoi.com –a technology-enabled experiential holiday planning & booking platform. Through this innovative business model, she plans to help the under-served markets of north east India.

More on our interview with Priyanka Rastogi at this link >
Message of the Month Interview / June 2020

 

 

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Reflecting the brand, when you’re designing hotel interiors

Image Source: Lesley Wong Interiors

How would you translate a company’s brand properties into interior design?

For me, I like to do some homework before I meet the client. I look at the company logo, website and brand. I try to get an understanding of what they would like to convey to their guests.

The next step is to meet at the property to connect, if what they want to convey is really getting across to their guests. For instance, does the brand say “warm and welcoming”? As it pertains to interior design, we can use that as a jumping off point with a color palette. Maybe we look at logo colors and modify from there with complimentary colors in the interior – ones that make you feel warm and welcomed. Think warm rusty oranges, reds, yellows, earthy browns and beige – “warm” colors. Textures that are soft will continue on that path of welcoming.

More on our interview with Lesley Wong at this link >
Message of the Month Interview / April 2020

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How to take better pictures on your next vacation

Picture : copyright Shiva Prasad

Shiva Prasad is a Mumbai-based management graduate in international business. He chose filmmaking as his career, and has worked in Indian and British films. He also worked as a creative researcher for the Hindi feature film Irada, which won the Indian National Award in 2018. He has also been rated as a top photographer on Google Maps. As an extension to his passionate interest in anything smartphone, Shiva is an active stock video producer for leading stock agencies across the globe.

Shiva tasted success as a filmmaker in the year 2013, when he was stranded in the Uttarakhand flash floods. He managed to survive that and captured nature’s fury in great detail on his smartphone. (That was all the shooting kit he had with him at that point.)

Shiva has filmed a 20-episode television series on India’s holy river “Krishna”, with his smartphone. And Samsung, too, was inspired to produce a promotional video about Shiva Prasad’s creative journey in movie making.

For our Message for the Month feature we chatted with Shiva on his personal journey, and how people on vacation can take better pictures and videos on their smart phones. (This is the first segment in a two-part series of interviews.)

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Message of the Month / March 2020

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Conversations about responsible tourism

Dominique Hoover is an experienced and independent researcher, with project related experience in Aquaculture, Coral Reefs and Snorkeling. She has a professional interest in projects that address coral reef restoration and conservation.

Dominique has a Masters Degree in Marine Biology and Oceanography from Annamalai University, and is a Research Fellow from the National Institute of Oceanography at Dona Paula, Goa.

We now chat with Dominique on the growing need to protect our environment, and how responsible tourism can play a huge support role in this effort.

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In conversation with Dominique Hoover
Message of the Month / February – 2020

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What does “good tourism” mean to you?

What is The “Good Tourism” Blog all about? (What moved, or inspired you to start it?)

There are all sorts of buzz-words and buzz-phrases being bandied about the chattering class of the tourism industry: sustainability, responsibility, sustainable tourism, responsible travel, accessibility, accessible tourism, tourism impact, community-based tourism, inclusive growth, inclusive tourism, regenerative tourism, ecotourism, nature-based tourism. (There could be many more!)
The “Good Tourism” Blog is about all of that and more. Whatever good tourism means to you, there will likely be some content there for you. And if there isn’t, you are invited to submit a “Good Tourism” insight, or request someone to write a relevant piece for us.

David Gillbanks,
publisher of the The “Good Tourism” Blog

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Message of the Month – January 2020

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Q&A with a former Chief Conservator of Forests in Bengal

Dr Sheelwant Patel has been an insurance man, a forester, an environmentalist, and a researcher. He has sold insurance for five years and been forester for thirty-three. Dr Patel has climbed hills, stalked killer elephants in jungles, and stayed over at many a haunted house in the Himalayas.

A docudrama he wrote has won him a national award for the best documentary. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and two amazing children with equally fulfilling professions. (One is an animator, and the other is a filmmaker.)

As Chief Conservator of Forests in Bengal, I was looking after the forests of northern West Bengal that are prime elephant habitats. This region contains five sanctuaries, three national parks, and has 14 elephant corridors that are notorious for being the terrain of the most intense human-elephant conflicts in South East Asia. I must add here that Jaldapara and Gorumara in the region are famous for rhinos.

We did organize safaris – in vehicles, in bullock carts, and on elephant back – but jungle treks being unsafe for tourists, we forbid them – especially as the visibility is no more than 10-15 meters in these dense evergreen forests.

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Message of the Month / December 2019

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How do new members benefit at AIRDA

How is the AIRDA community useful for new members?

AIRDA comes in as your industry partner, conscience keeper and business catalyst – with a wide portfolio of support services. The big thing to remember here is that AIRDA is not like a big brother giving you advice – you become a member of a community of like-minded players. And you have some really big players out here who are playing a lead role and showing you the way.

From a larger industry perspective, AIRDA plays the role of a neutral body – aiming to facilitate the smooth functioning of the vacation ownership industry in India. We operate within an ecosystem that we call the organized sector of the timeshare industry.

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Message of the Month / November 2019

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Timeshare Presentations – always go prepared to ask questions

This article can be a useful frame of reference during the sales presentation that all new and prospective customers are invited to. This is where you get an opportunity to ask questions and seek assistance in choosing the right kind of vacation ownership package.

At the end of the presentation we advise you to ask the sales team to show you a very important document – the Sales Disclosure Document. This document helps you understand the roles and responsibilities of resort owners, and what you need to do to keep your membership valid during the contract period.

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Message of the Month / October 2019

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Snapshots from memory lane . . .

Hello and welcome to our Message of the Month.

This month we feature an interesting story teller from the corporate world – Indranil Chakraborti. In his book, “Stories at Work”, we were delighted to find a story about a proactive staff member at a Mahindra Holidays resort in Coorg. This is a story from the world of vacation ownership, and one that we will remember for a long, long time.

Indranil believes that “stories” are more meaningful and have a better recall than a narration of facts and figures. Keeping this in mind, we talked to four young people about their holiday stories – especially those they remembered in a very special way.

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Message of the Month – September 2019

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