Connecting With Freedom

As India celebrates her 69th Independence Day, Express Travel World rediscovers these iconic freedom monuments that were witness to India’s struggle for Freedom and spoke to travel agents to find out how these can be promoted to attract the new age traveller wanting to connect with his historical roots.

- 

North India

With landmarks like the Red Fort in Delhi and Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar marking historic movements in India's freedom, the northern region of the country has many famous as well as little known sites that can be promoted as freedom trails. Express Travel World got some interesting insights from travel agents across the country to understand the tourist footfall at these places. Anurag Agarwal, director of Delhi-based SA Southend Travels, states, “Not many customers prefer to visit these places associated with our freedom struggle. Since Delhi is a major region with great historical significance people wish to explore more. We as agents accommodate it in special tours like cultural and food so people get a chance to see these locations. But, I feel if we make these trips more interesting and knowledgeable by adding a few interactive sessions or audio guides on history, it would make a huge difference to the tourist footfall.”

Talking about the interest of foreign tourists about historical monuments Lally Mathews, director, Vacations Travels and Tours, mentions, “If we look at North India then we have major places like Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar and Red Fort in Delhi. When we plan itineraries for these areas we include these major hotspots that define India's heritage. But domestic footfall is more than foreign tourists. This is mainly because foreign travellers see various factors like cleanliness and audio guides in their languages. The government lacks in spreading awareness about historical places and maintaining cleanliness standards for international tourists.” Some of the major places in the northern region are:

Lucknow and Meerut