
The new luxury travel trend
Asad Lalljee, CEO of arts and culture platform Avid Learning, and his wife, holidays aren’t about ticking off Instagram-worthy hotspots — it’s about curating unforgettable experiences. Whether it’s staying in a madrasa-turned-hotel in Uzbekistan, attending a sushimaking workshop in Tokyo or doing a conscious safari at Bagh Villas in Madhya Pradesh, their family holiday is designed to be a rich and unique journey.
And he’s not alone. Lalljee has noticed a shift among family and friends increasingly favouring “meaningful and immersive travel, where unique experiences take precedence over traditional tourist attractions”, he says.
While private jets to Maldives, Switzerland and London are still popular, for many discerning highend travellers, the new definition of luxury travel is about seeking journeys that leave an imprint beyond social media feeds.
Choosing moments
“There’s almost a subconscious reaction of pulling away from this avalanche of digital content and overload,” Yeshwantrao Holkar, partner of Ahilya Experiences, had said at a recent luxury panel in Mumbai. “What we’re seeing is that more people are seeking out real experiences. Those fancy photographs, the beautiful reels that we have all spent lakhs optimising, have gone. In fact, the people at the very discerning end of travel are not even online anymore.”
Travellers today are increasingly inclined towards once-in-a-lifetime experiences instead of following conventional itineraries. “Luxury travel is no longer about premium-class travel or deluxe stays, but rather about exclusive, bespoke experiences that appeal to the sophisticated palates of India’s HNIUHNI set,” said Rajeev Kale, president, Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India).
This shift is