Well, the tribe continues to grow every day. So we thought we might as well start a blog about the big revolution that is happening in the Indian Travel Industry. Presenting to you The Backpacking India series, where we talk about everything you need about your next backpacking trip to India.
Now, India is a country we all want to backpack around. The sheer size of the country, the diversity on offer and the chaos will drive you insane but charm you in a manner you cannot imagine. If you have travelling around India for any length of duration, you know it is a never ending romance.
India is touted as the next big thing, as far as economic progress is considered, especially given the huge potential of a young and rising middle class population. And wherever there are young people, there are people who want to travel and experience the world. Needless to say, more and more Indians are travelling around the world and within India. Mind you, the travel they are doing now is a lot different from what was happening 20 years ago. Today’s young Indian wants not just to go to fancy locations but wants to experience the place they travel to. They do not shy away from sampling the local food, revel in the local customs and take time to know the local history. The average Indian traveller continues to be value conscious but yet is becoming more and more an experiential traveller.
This has resulted in a burgeoning travel ecosystem within India. Within the last 2 years, more and more experiential travel companies are springing up. Who would have imagined that people are now willing to pay for a tour that makes you walk? Royal Mysore Walks does exactly that, around the quaint by lanes of Mysore. On the other extreme, you have companies like India Hikes which offers a high quality of hikes around some beautiful trails around India. There are surfing schools and scuba diving schools springing up all along the coast line, while more and more Indians are smitten by the love of cycling, as can be seen by the success of The Tour of Nilgiris.
Even more heartwarming has been developments in some key areas of the travel industry. Just over the last couple of years, about 10 hostels have set up shop in Goa alone. The oldest of them being the Jungle Hostel run by Laura and Jason of The Hostel Crowd. And then there are our friends, the Road House Hostel run by Uday and Rajesh. Ofcourse, the most popular of the new age hostels is Zostel, who now happen to be at quite many locations around India. Then there are online travel aggregators like Thrillophilia, who success has attracted the attention of many potential investors.
We in goMowgli believe that we are building a travel infrastructure company, where we seek to provide high quality buses and guides to offbeat travel locations around India. We have just gotten started on our journey and through the Backpacking India series, we will keep you abreast with all the progress we in goMowgli and the rest of the travel industry make towards making India a better country to backpack around.
