It’s an odd phrase, but most of us know what it means: the anguish of lives thrown into chaos by COVID, travel plans torn apart, and loved ones left isolated and lonely for months, maybe years on end. We’re talking about the new kid on the social media block… Revenge travel. And like a dog that doesn’t bark in the night, we know how important it is precisely because we’re not hearing so much about masks, vaccine boosts, and lockdowns anymore. What we’re hearing about instead is an unprecedented surge in domestic and international travel over the course of 2022 (ever since COVID skulked off the stage in fact); and that, in a nutshell, is what revenge travel is all about: taking revenge on COVID. It’s also a trend that’s likely to continue well into 2023, before eventually emerging as an entrenched part of all our lives. So something worth paying attention to then. But having established what it is, is this new form of travel really any sort of revenge at all?
Well, in a word, “yes”.
Best served hot and vibrant
All that time lost to the pandemic, all those airline cancellations and dashed hopes… day after day spent in isolation watching four walls closing in, children comatose with boredom, and nothing for salvation but the thin pleasures of the latest Netflix box set. Somebody, or something, has to pay for all that, so it might as well be Covid. And unlike your average dose of traditional revenge, which everybody knows is best served cold, revenge travel is best served hot… as hot and vibrant as possible.
Modern revenge travellers are no longer content to plod the same old tourist routes, staying in the same old concrete hotels (dull enough to make beige look psychedelic), and putting up with the same old style service standards that have been responsible for tearing up the environment for decades. No, our new generation of travellers are passionate about moving on as quickly as possible from COVID: they’re on a mission to get out and see the world again, ticking off as many bucket list items as possible before they grow too old. Which means more wellness based travel in 2023, and more eco escapes too…in short, something extraordinary enough to open up the wonders of the planet like never before…hotter and more vibrant than ever: and when it comes to heat and vibrancy, nobody does it better than India.
Indian hospitality: Nobody does it better
Throughout 2022, traveller numbers on the subcontinent have surged inexorably upwards, and current forecasts suggest India’s hospitality sector will grow by 13.59 percent before the end of the present year: by the end of 2027 the sector is likely to be worth a staggering USD 31.35 billion. And it’s precisely because we’re talking about revenge travel here that cookie cutter trips are off the agenda: our new breed of travellers are looking instead for a much more personalised, environmentally friendly package: targeted on destinations that bring them closer to nature, whilst at the same time nurturing a holistic approach to wellbeing.
No surprise then that the Government of India has hallmarked a suitably enticing brand for the overall experience: “Incredible India! Visit India Year 2023”…simple, effective and beguilingly true…so perhaps revenge travel has a new mantra…
Since our company was founded, more than a decade ago, we’ve been putting wellbeing, nature, and local communities at the very heart of our business model: fostering energy efficiency, technology and sustainability from the ground up, sourcing supplies to support local communities, and managing operations with a clarity of vision that will bring a new dimension to hospitality on the subcontinent. That all makes us better placed than ever to meet the exacting demands of India’s next generation of travellers
