…And that’s a Wrap: WTM 2013 by Ravi Kalra

It has been a great week here in London at The World Travel Market. Travel Inn does a lot of business in the UK so I always enjoy coming back here and meeting with old friends. Here in Delhi we are meant to be heading into winter but in London they really are. As I stepped off the plane at Heathrow the sun might have been shining but the wind was biting!

Here I am outside the ExCel Centre where WTM is held: cutting a fashionable shape wrapped up in my thermals. Who needs a woolly hat!  

The week started off with a well avoided problem in the shape of our stand being moved positions at the last minute. Always swift to come up with a solution, our designer changed the panels around and it ended up looking better than we could have hoped for. In this picture you can see myself and Rajan doing what we do best and speaking with some fellow travel industry partners.

Here we are with our good friends at Reni Pani Jungle Lodge. They are pioneers in the wildlife sector and passionate in the  conservation effort to preserve India’s sadly swiftly depleting natural habitats. And with Ellie from another of our good friends in the UK, Ampersand Travel, who specialise in bespoke luxury holidays to the Indian subcontinent. We share their ethos and uncompromising attitude towards travelling the Indian Subcontinent in style! 

However it was not all work and no play. We did get a few moments to let our hair down and enjoy some of the novel aspects that WTM had to offer. Here is Rajan looking mighty pleased with himself having made some very cosmopolitan new contacts.

And myself feeling very lucky to have met 2013’s ‘Miss Trinidad and Tobago’ as well as a rather tall Masai warrior!

In short, it was a very successful week at WTM. There was a lot of buzz around India as always and we enjoyed speaking about the country that we love the most, to anyone who would listen! Probably due to the face that we feel that everyone should know how…

…really is!

For more information on any of Travel Inn’s products or itineraries please visit www.travelinn.in or alternatively email us on info@travelinn.in – we would love to here from you.

But unfortunately this year’s WTM is all wrapped up, as are we(!) and bound for the much warmer climes of India. London, thank you for having us, we cannot wait to see you again next year!

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Travel Inn do our bit to help save the Amur Falcon

At Travel Inn we are passionate about nature and we aim to do our bit for the wildlife of India that we love so much. That is why we are joining forces with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in order to help protect the Amur falcons. Every year the Doyang Reservoir in Wokha district of Nagaland plays host to tens of thousands of Amur falcons between October and November. It is believed to be the single largest congregation of the migrating Amur in the world.

However sadly, it is not just nature enthusiasts that have become aware of the Amur falcons annual migration; this area has also been identified as the major site for hunting. Last year it was estimated that some 60,000 Amur falcons were hunted and killed in the Wokha district alone. As a signatory to the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS), India is duty bound to provide these winged visitors with safe passage on their long journey from Siberia to South Africa.

WTI’s Rapid Action Project (RAP) programme is supporting the authorities and local communities to address the issue by initiating sensitization and livelihood support activities in Wokha to dissuade hunting of these migrating birds. As a result, the local community has pledged to protect the Amur falcon and 15 erstwhile hunters have formed themselves into watch squads to patrol the area of the Doyang Reservoir.

Please follow this link if you would like to find out more or even to donate yourself.