Saloni Bhatia – New Delhi
The ‘Old Delhi Heritage Walk’ by India City Walks, landed them their second National Tourism Award in the Best Heritage Walk category. During the walk, guests learn about the city offering a mixture of religion, food, history, modernity, tradition, culture and commerce. Started as The Delhi Walks, the company has expanded to various cities and categories like Heritage Walks, Spiritual Walks, Gourmet Walks, Nightlife Walks, Bazaar Walks, and Photography Walks. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, about why they started as storytellers, Sachin Bansal, chief explorer, India City Walks, stated, “Travel and Tourism is getting cluttered and is getting bifurcated. While there has been an ease in flight and hotel bookings, the real question is what to do when you arrive in a city. We wish to offer something unique to travellers that sticks to their memory and therefore keep introducing new products.”
The travel movement has increased with more domestic travellers wanting to catch a glimpse of their heritage and culture. Bansal added, “We started catering to international travellers initially, but now about 50 per cent of our explorers are domestic who want a different experience. People who are busy come out to explore on special occasions, for which we create Father’s Day Walk, Gandhi Walk, Valentine’s Walk etc.”
Commenting on expansion plans, he mentioned, “We have various products that have been segmented. We have Delhi Walks where we cover Delhi, Agra, Jaipur. We’ll soon be launching in Mumbai and Goa to cater to a wider audience. Mumbai has a lot to offer through its Victorian arhictecture, Kala Ghoda, caves and nearby islands. The beaches in Goa and the food would be the highlight. We had already launched in Chattisgarh last year which focuses on tribal culture, wildlife and the heritage value of the state. It has been done in association with the state government. We are proud to say we create destinations as well.”
“A lot of research goes ino curating new products as the team personally goes and tests the potential in a new city. We have various categories in photography and food walks in order to deliver the best experience to a customer. We will also be focusing on city explorers which would connect locals of a city directly to the tourists,” added Bansal.