With a whirring sound, the blades of the rotor began moving. At first, slowly, but soon they were moving so fast that all I could see was a blur. Even though I was sitting inside the cabin and the door was shut, the noise was simply deafening.
Within a couple of minutes, we were airborne, as the helicopter took off, first with its nose down, and then as we gained more height, it levelled off and after a few more minutes we had reached our cruising altitude.
All this while, my eyes were glued to the views outside and I was relishing every moment of the first-ever helicopter ride in my life. I was in Jamaica to attend Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) 2023 being held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in the northern part of the Caribbean Island.
Along with a handful of Indian travel agents specialised in outbound luxury travel from India, I was fortunate enough to be the sole media person from India to be invited by Jamaica Tourist Board to attend JAPEX 2023. The invitations were part of the strategy of the tourist board to boost the number of Indian travellers to the island nation, which has traditionally been favoured by well-heeled Indians, for organising destination weddings, anniversary celebrations or simply to enjoy a cruise in the Caribbean.
With a booming economy and the sharply rising number of millionaires in India, Jamaica has fixed its sights on promoting itself as an exclusive luxury destination in India.
And how better to promote it than by giving a taste of luxury? This was one of the primary reasons why we were in the bright-red coloured helicopter that had taken off moments earlier from a helipad at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, where JAPEX 2023 was taking place.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November - December 2023-Ausgabe von India Outbound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November - December 2023-Ausgabe von India Outbound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
World's Top Luxury Trains
Replete with personal valets, grand suites and opulent amenities, luxury train travel is becoming one of the most sought-after ways to see the world with the rising popularity of slow travel.
India Among Focus Markets for Preferred Hotels & Resorts
Preferred Hotels & Resorts offers not only a platform to the 650 luxury hotels in 85 countries that are its members, but it also helps them move towards critical areas such as sustainability. Lindsey Ueberroth, CEO, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, who was in India recently tells India Outbound that the Beyond Green label of Preferred Hotels & Resorts has extremely stringent membership criteria which are regularly monitored and enforced. She adds that India is one of the most important outbound travel markets for members of Preferred Hotels & Resorts.
Malta to host first art biennale in 2024
The Mediterranean island nation of Malta will organise its first art biennale in first half of 2024. Conceived as a Mediterranean biennale, its inaugural edition comes with theme of 'insular thinking' that has drawn over 2,500 proposals by artists from 75 countries. The biennale will start from March 11 and continue through the month of May. Artistic Director Sofia Baldi Pighi tells India Outbound about the preparations for the biennale.
Heidelberg: Lessons in History & Heritage
There are many student towns in the world but few can rival the small German city of Heidelberg's unique connection with education and youth. While hostels and libraries are commonplace, Heidelberg is perhaps the only centre of learning in the world to have had a prison for students!
48 hours in Kutaisi
A compact town split by the Rioni River, Kutaisi, the capital of the Imereti region of Georgia, is a window into the country's history, culture, art and architecture and way of life.
We aspire to be the gateway for Indian travellers to US
As most Indian travellers to the United States head to Calfornia and more specifically the Silicon Valley, San Francisco International Airport aspires to be the key gateway for Indians, Kevin Bumen, Chief Financial & Commercial Officer at SFO tells India Outbound. Bumen adds that the number of Indian arrivals at SFO has already risen 80 pc over 2019 peak.
INDIAN TRAVEL TRADE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT DESTINATION JAMAICA
With a clear focus on the potential that the Indian outbound travel market holds, Jamaica Tourist Board invited Indian travel trade and media to participate for the first time in JAPEX, the key tourism fair in the country. The bet on the Indian market seems to have paid off for Jamaica as almost every travel agent from India said that the destination held immense promise for Indian visitors and that the destination would be integrated in their itineraries shortly.
Indian travellers biggest consumers of adventure in South Africa
With an 82 pc increase in arrivals from India so far in 2023 and a rapidly growing MICE industry, South African Tourism is set to reach the 2019 arrivals this year, Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head Middle East, India & South East Asia of South African Tourism, tells India Outbound.
Full recovery in leisure traffic, business yet to catch up
Finnish flag carrier FinnAir was amongst the worst hit by the Russia-Ukraine War. However, the airline's leisure traffic from India has recovered fully to the pre-pandemic levels and recovery in business travel is progressive, Romu Sakari, General Manager, Finnair tells India Outbound.
Segovia: Spain's Fairytale Town
One of the many tourism gems that Spain boasts of, Segovia is perhaps the dreamiest, with its amazing history that is reflected in extremely well-preserved monuments, ranging from a Roman Aqueduct to a 12th century Castle and a flamboyant 16th century Gothic Cathedral.Varsha Singh
