An unusual holiday is the new equivalent of an 'It' bag - it holds the promise of being a sure-shot conversation starter. 'What will you do this summer?' takes on a whole new meaning this season.
WOMEN travellers are increasingly a target for the tourism industry. But as with anything to do with women, experts are finding that keeping up with them is a tough job.
What used to be considered chic for the Indian female traveller - spending the summer shopping at Harrods in London, or sipping on a capuccino on the Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris - is now considered passé and is no longer catching the Indian woman's fancy.
While adventure sports are also a growing fad among women of late, there is also an increasing tribe of women who are indulging in the ultimate fashion snobbery: planning a holiday that is unusual. In the fashionista's vocabulary, it is the equivalent of the It bag - when you walk into a party, what you did/will do this summer should be a conversation starter.
So for many, summer travel now means going off the social radar, and the tour operator’s map, and designing a trip that no one else is taking. After all, who wants to hang out at a fancy nightclub in New York full of the same folk spotted at Delhi’s chic watering holes, when one can test drive a Porsche through sand dunes at an exclusive 'by invitation only' event?
According to Mohit Ahluwalia, Director of SKH Global Travels, the Indian woman is becoming more selective than ever. He says: "Having already travelled extensively before, she wants a new experience. She is more cultured and sophisticated than ever before and her choice of itinerary show that."
While one of this summer's most eagerly anticipated movies, Sex in the City 2, shows the four granddames of the New York social scene (Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda) jet off to Morocco for an exotic girly getaway, it all seems a little 'been there, done that.' Especially since they still have each other as security blankets.
Nowadays a woman wants to go on a one of a kind holiday, and she is not afraid to go on her own. While Europe and the Far East are still popular destinations, according to Gaurav Dogra, Chairman of Plan Your Holiday, travellers are not really interested in going there for sightseeing.
Rather tailor-made trips of spa holidays, adventure tours of New Zealand or Whisky tours of Scotland are the new favourites for the Indian traveller.
Article source: http://in.specials.yahoo.com/summerspecial/trends-article?blogid=ss_trends_article&postid=38&viewPost=1
