Aditya Sharma, Community Director, Vaatalya, writes on invitation and exclusively for our special series BRIEF24.
Learnings and achievements from 2023; Inspiration for 2024
In 2023, the travel industry has seen a notable shift towards cultivating positive and enriching experiences. A standout trend is the increased focus on holistic well-being and transformative journeys, with travelers actively seeking experiences like the Parivartan Programs at Vaatalya. This reflects a collective yearning for more meaningful connections, emphasizing personal growth and self-discovery.
India experienced a noticeable shift in travel preferences from popular destinations like Manali in Himachal Pradesh and Kochi to more offbeat yet stunning locations such as Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, Gokarna, Karnataka, Spots in Uttarakhand like Munsiyari or Chopta.
My year-end analysis of 2023:
Impact of Digital Influences on Authentic Travel: Social media and digital influences continued to shape travel motivations. While these platforms can promote destinations, there’s a risk of diluting authentic travel experiences for the sake of online validation. This concern emphasizes the importance of balancing digital promotion with preserving the genuine essence of India’s diverse cultural and natural landscapes.
Psychedelic retreats and adaptogenic menus are gaining remarkable traction worldwide. However, the legality of such practices varies internationally and may not align with domestic regulations. Ensuring compliance with local laws and ethical standards is essential when considering these trends.
Overtourism and Strain on Infrastructure: A second concern is the environmental repercussions of unchecked tourism development in offbeat destinations.
Balancing exploration with a commitment to sustainable practices is crucial for preserving the authenticity of offbeat locations, shared responsibility between the government and private sectors. In summary, 2023 trends advocate for transformative journeys and responsible tourism, while concerns include the impact of social media on travel motivations and environmental issues arising from unchecked development.
In summary, 2023 trends emphasize transformative journeys and responsible tourism. Concerns include social media’s impact on travel motivations and environmental issues from unchecked development. Recognizing these trends and concerns is crucial for steering the travel industry towards a more sustainable, mindful, and enriching future.
Success stories from 2023: In the reflection upon 2023, Vaatalya celebrated a couple of remarkable achievements that extended beyond conventional performance metrics. Notably, Bhuvan, a regular traveler, voluntarily mentioned us in an interview on a national platform, recounting his genuine experiences without any form of solicitation.
This unplanned endorsement, free from the confines of social media popularity, underscores the authenticity of human connections formed through travel.
Additionally, the impact of our Parivartan program manifested profoundly in the transformational journey of Nikita. Her remarkable physical and mental health improvements over the course of five months since the program’s conclusion highlight the substantial and positive influence our services can have.
These instances, going beyond mere numerical measures, truly define Vaatalya’s success in 2023, emphasizing the profound connections and impactful transformations that lie at the heart of our mission.
Learnings and realizations from 2023: Insights and discoveries about the travel industry since my childhood have not only shaped my professional growth but have also been instrumental in maintaining a steadfast perspective.
Drawing from an experienced history of travel since my ninth-grade mountaineering expedition, the evolution from experiencing diverse journeys to establishing, exiting, and currently advising travel businesses, particularly focusing on sustainability, has been an ongoing process.
The realization that societal shifts, from joint families to nuclear ones and now a resurgence in communal living, align with our family’s foresight. These changes, amazingly, are in line with our family’s vision, highlighting how crucial it is to adjust to shifting social dynamics.
Thinking more broadly, the Green Revolution helped Punjab deal with difficulties of food security at first, but it also introduced new problems, including pest-infested crops, declining soil quality, and indebted farmers. A knowledge of approaching problems and the value of mindful activities in protecting our environment and means of subsistence was developed as a result of this early experience.
At Vaatalya, we strive to fulfill the vision that these early encounters helped to develop. It is deeply satisfying to watch as the larger community adopts responsible tourist practices.
It represents a constructive change in the tourism industry toward environmentally friendly and thoughtful travel. In order to ensure a better future for the travel industry and the environment, sustainability is in line with our aim to promote a more sustainable and responsible approach to travel.
2023 highlights and takeaways: In the past year, I’ve embraced essential lessons that align with the Triple Bottom Line business approach that focuses on “planet, people, and profits”. The emphasis on “planet, people, and profits” became pivotal in decision-making at Vaatalya.
Particularly, when navigating challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, this approach ensured that our decisions not only sustained the business but also had positive impacts on the environment and our community.
The need for resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges, like a global health crisis, highlighted the importance of having diversified revenue streams beyond the travel sector.
This strategic foresight led us to venture into e-commerce, offering homegrown products, reinforcing the idea that a business should not solely depend on tourism. Indeed, a crucial takeaway from the past year is the imperative to never stop growing our own food. The uncertainties posed by factors like COVID and climate change underscored the need for self-sufficiency in food production.
Retaining ownership of our land for cultivation became a strategic decision to ensure a sustainable source of food, promoting resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges. This commitment to cultivating our own produce aligns with the broader philosophy of responsible and sustainable living at Vaatalya.
Looking at 2024: Vaatalya envisions a revolutionary trip for astro-tourism in 2024, one that goes beyond the conventional experiencing paradigm and embraces informative workshops. We will be launching workshops in the form of level one and level two educational modules in the near future.
These workshops will primarily target young individuals with keen interest in astro-tourism and will impart knowledge and foster a deep connection to nature. This strategy shift is in line with the astro-tourism industry’s broader trend and reflects developments that have been observed in Europe and the US over the last three years.
Our intention is to provide travelers with a comprehensive understanding of the complex fabric of nature by weaving together the domains of astronomy and naturalist viewpoints. This change in teaching represents a break from the status quo of passive observation, including people in the cosmic story and creating a greater sense of accountability for our environment.
Some advice: To my fellow peers/readers and those stepping into the industry, I would earnestly advocate for the establishment of sustainable travel and tourism businesses. It’s crucial that we create spaces that can sustain themselves, fostering a sense of responsibility. Let’s refrain from turning offbeat locations into mere tourist destinations, only to move on and forget about them.
Our individual actions hold the power to ensure the longevity of these places. Additionally, I strongly recommend adopting a triple-bottom-line business model. While conventional models focus solely on revenues, the triple bottom line model prioritizes the planet, people, and profits equally.
Incorporating this approach into your business decisions ensures a holistic and responsible framework. Let’s collectively contribute to a sustainable and mindful tourism industry.
My Mantra for 2024: In 2024, my mantra is to stay persistent, work hard, and keep experimenting, believing that success is being at the right place, at the right time, with the right people.
My personal favorites from 2023
A book I liked in 2023: The book ‘Business Model Generation’ has been a game-changer for me. Co-authored by 470 business model canvas practitioners from 45 countries, it’s a collaborative masterpiece.
‘Upnishad Ganga’ This is translation of Vedas. For anybody seeking deeper meaning in life and if someone wants to know how deep our cultural roots are.
A show/movie that I liked in 2023: ‘OMG 2’ struck a chord with me, and I believe it should be a mandatory watch in schools. Despite being rated differently by our government, its relevance is undeniable.
My 2023 hobby-career connection: Reading, especially exploring philosophy and perspectives from sources like Osho and the Bihar School of Yoga, has been a passionate hobby that significantly contributed to my career. The Bihar School of Yoga, unique in its approach, requires sending a postcard for an invitation to join their yoga school.