Voices Anand Neelakantan Ravi Shankar Devdutt Pattanaik Neha Sinha Anuja Chandramouli Mata Amritanandamayi THE new sunday express MAGAZINE Hunting Horizons H Buffet People Wellness Books Food Art & Culture Entertainment January 19 2025 SUNDAY PAGES 12 The New Indian Traveller By Tanisha Saxena & Teja Lele ave ticket, will travel. Not on the road less travelled, though. This year will move the needle in travel planning, heavily influenced by pop culture. Travelbugs are planning holidays inspired by movies, TV shows, and celebrity lifestyles, according to number crunchers. In 2025, the personalised travel trend will be amplified by digital doo dahs, giving movers and shakers a better grip on their programme. Travel with attitude is the ticket, with itinerants using the experience itself to connect with their inner selves with emotion, technology and ‘me’ time. album of their own. According to a study by Virtuoso, the luxury travel network, 64 per cent of solo travellers now consider a good book to be their ideal travel companion. Getting travellers eyeballs are rejuvenation, self-discovery and indulgence—without having to do the , couple thing with great expectations. do something, do nothing In 2025, a surprisingly old Scottish term has sparked a global trend: hurkle durkling, which refers to the art of lying in bed and doing absolutely nothing: Charles Lamb even has an essay on simply staring at the rafters. This THE MEMOONER ME MINE MYSELF This is travel wisdom from Manoj Dharmani, CEO of DUDigital Global—a digital services and technology platform that offers services such as visa facilitation. Skift’s Travel 2025 Megatrends report muses that the travel industry like everything else, is moving “at a , frenetic pace”. The crystal ball predicts that global politics, technology and the human need , for connection will outline travel in 2025. Sarah Kopit, Skift Editor-in-Chief, also lists the “most resonant trend”: A shift to “more intentional, soulful travel” that reminds us that, above all, travel is “still about depth and discovery”. As personal preferences evolve, so do the ways we travel. In 2025, the trend of personalised travel will get on steroids with digital tools wiring up travellers to tick off the items on their bucket lists faster than you can say Krung Thep Maha Nakhon. Tech and simplify Long waiting times and cumbersome procedures are a pain for any traveller worth his forex card. The tech genie is out of the proverbial lamp, gifting advanced digital solutions at airports, immigration counters, travel apps and visa visits such as AI-driven document verification, biometric authentication, and real-time status updates. As e-visas and visa-free agreements become as common as water fountains at airports, checking out new destinations gets easier. Accessible is the word, making 2025 a high-five year for convenience, exploration, and connection. As Dharmani puts it, “The future of travel will not only be about destinations but about forging connections, discovering new cultures, and experiencing the world in ways that reflect the evolving needs of travellers.” love yourself While solo travel has always been the grizzly , the lone wolf of 2025 is a different beast. Me Mooning—a existential twist on honeymooning—was Ankit Jain’s travel choice. The 27-year-old entrepreneur from Delhi, embarked on a MeMooner journey to Paris, a city he had long dreamed of experiencing his way A . shutterbug and foodie, Jain sought a deeper connection to the city’s culture that went far beyond its iconic tourist attractions. “My trip wasn’t just about ticking off landmarks. I LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Where are these new travellers staying in 2025? The answer lies in a growing preference for unique, immersive accommodations. The new traveller is shying away from traditional hotels in favour of homestays, boutique hotels, and luxury resorts that provide personalised, intimate experiences. Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com, says, “We have observed a shift in priorities of Indian travellers with an increased emphasis on comfort, personalisation and sustainability. This year, almost one out of five Indians revealed that they are likely to stay at an alternative stay (e.g. a tree house, igloo, etc.), apart from hotels (67 per cent), resort (54 per cent), villa (33 per cent) or hostel (22 per cent).” The rise of unique stays, sought by one out of five Indian families—such as ryokans, treehouses, and homesteads—highlight the desire for experiences that blend comfort with authenticity. This indicates a growing appetite for personalised and memorable accommodations that cater to various generational needs. Indian families are also prioritising destinations that offer safety (44 per cent) along with accommodations that offer amenities like on-site restaurants (31 per cent). Moreover, an appreciation for the nocturnal world is also deepening Indian travellers’ connections with nature with 72 per cent seeking accommodations with minimal light pollution. wished to feel the city’s pulse. Every day felt like an exploration of both Paris and myself,” he says, after peaceful meanderings through the quieter corners of the City of Light not found on the cookie-cutter tourist map. In these private postcard places, he could absorb the essence of Ville lumiere without yielding to the pressure of a packed itinerary “I . remember sitting at a café near the Louvre, sipping cappuccino, simply watching the world go by It wasn’t just . the view—it was about being truly present in the moment,” he adds. The growth of MeMooners points to a larger cultural shift where solo travellers are creating adventures for an THE DIGITALIST TAKING THE E-WAY quaint term, which may sound like a Walt Disney cartoon, is a doozy Hurkle durkling is . an entirely novel category of travel: the sleep retreat. These shut-eye surroundings promote relaxation, indulgence, and absolute break from the demands of daily life that could be as dreary as Delhi November. This Scottish noun defines wellness, tranquillity and mental , vitamins, sweeping away burnout like a fresh wind scattering a dead bonfire. It is more than just a trend, hurkle durkling gives mental health and wellness a pair of new glasses, maybe rose-tinted. According to a report by the Global Wellness Institute, one in five travellers now visit sleep retreats to destress, grab some mental clarity with relaxation for the main , course. “People are prioritising mental health,” says Sanjay Kothari, Founder and MD of Just Holidays, which specialises in personalised travel services. “ slow-paced getaway allows A them to reset, indulge in therapeutic experiences and re-engage with their sense of wellbeing,” he adds. Travellers can expect settings as private as Greta Garbo and as serene as the Dalai Lama—remotely placed cabins, private villas, and luxurious resorts where comfort and solitude man the reception. Take, for example, Santani Wellness nestled in Sri Lanka’s lush green hills. “Here, true wellness begins when you disconnect to reconnect,” says Vickum Nawagamuwage, Founder and CEO of Santani Resort and Spa. At sleep retreats, personalised therapies are the draw. “Specialists work with guests to identify root causes of sleep disturbances, crafting tailored programmes that promise more than a temporary fix,” adds Nawagamuwage. Traditional practices like Ayurveda are often pencilled into the plan; it offers treatments such as Shirodhara which releases warm oil steadily onto the forehead to soothe a citybuzzed nervous system, and Abhyanga, a oil massage as synchronised as a Swiss watch’s movements to help realign the out-of-whack natural rhythm of the body The demand for . these retreats has grown over the years. “Our number of guests in their late 20s to early 40s is growing. They’re searching for ways to revive from what we often call ‘the busyness of modern life’,” says Nawagamuwage. the friend zone As work and leisure begin to gel like wine and cheese, the frolleague phenomenon—travelling with colleagues who are also friends—is the brave new version of group travel. The traditional family vacay isn’t the sole go-to for a bonding binge. Shazan Abbas, International Operations Manager at the travel firm Capture a Trip, reflects on a unique irony in the travel industry: “While we meticulously craft journeys to ensure our clients have the time of their lives, we often find ourselves tethered to our desks, missing out on the adventures we help create.” Recently he decided to go rogue and celebrate the New Year in Kazakhstan with his colleagues. “This excursion was more than just a holiday—it was an opportunity to bond, recharge, and experience firsthand the thrill of travel we so often design for others,” he recalls fondly . Abbas’s experience is a nudge towards a corporate leisure trend: prioritising teambuilding retreats to give burnout a black eye and give workplace camaraderie the trophy . According to a recent report from McKinsey & Company 30 per cent of workers now prefer to , travel with colleagues who are also friends, viewing it as an opportunity to mix productivity with leisure. “Workations have evolved into something that feels more like a vacation with an added bonus of productivity says Kothari. ,” This drift is most prominent among millennials and Gen Z professionals, who see value in forging stronger relationships with colleagues outside the office. From team-building trips to creative brainstorming sessions at exotic locations, frolleagues are giving work-relationships a new makeover. past perfect According to a 2024 study by the Travel Association, people are spending family nostalgia coupons to go shopping in the past. Make a note: 58 per cent of travellers are revisiting with their progeny places where they had a blast in the past as kiddies. These nostalgic R&Rs provide folks with an opportunity to pass on family traditions with the salt, suss out new experiences through parental eyes, and share stories of their past with the new generation. These Back to the Future landings are to water the plant of emotional connections while creating new memories with iPhones and laughs; maybe some feel-good tears too. These time travel trips build a bridge of sighs between generations and cultural storytelling wins the family lottery Whether it’s returning to a cabin . in the woods, booking that sea-view room in a fondly remembered hotel in that coastal town you visited when you had braces, or an amusement park where the stuffed bear was Turn to page 2