On the Ground in India
Zutshi Travel World Service (www.india-tours-operator.com) in New Delhi, India has been an Ensemble on Location partner since late 2004, and members have reported great success matching their luxury clients up with this local expert. Led by Akshay Ahuja (ztws@vsnl.com or zutshitravels@yahoo.co.in; 91-11-23365929). Zutshi Travel World Service provides bespoke-style ground services in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The company works closely with luxury travel advisors to customize programs for their clients.
What is the most over-the-top experience you've provided?
Most visitors to India plan a stay of one to two weeks, maximum. As Delhi is the center of activities and the tour business, most of the tours "take off" from here. In this case, most of the people visit Agra and Jaipur, which, along with Delhi, are called the "Golden Triangel." However, there have been occasions where we've made itineraries for as many as 11 weeks at a stretch, covering almost all of India - different parts and aspects to this diverse and incredible country.
What are some of the places you have insider access to?
We can arrange a get-together with a member of an erstwhile Royal Family belonging to one of the former Princely States of India, and who could today be the owner of a Palace Hotel, both in North India and South India. We can arrange a visit to the "Inner Sanctum" of some of the Hindu temples, which might not be open to all foreigners. We can arrange a Mock "Indian wedding" if desired. We can set up a visit to an Indian home for insight into the way urban Indian families live, or we can arrange a visit to the homes of villagers to get insight into how Indian rural farmers and families live. We can schedule visitors to meet lawyers and attend a court hearing. And, we can arrange a meeting with his Highness, the Dalai Lama, in Dharmsala.
Do you provide itineraries for groups of multi-generational travelers?
We have handled families of two to three generations with ages ranging from two to 90 years. Every attempt is made to take care of the needs of the children, such as ensuring the hotels have green lawns for them to play on, as well as activity rooms, swimming pools, etc. We also provide boat rides, elephant rides, camel rides and jungle safaris in the itinerary. We can arrange soft-adventure activities, such as visiting the hills, trekking and white-water rafting. With multi-generational families, one of the things that we look at is the pace of the trip-care is taken to provide maybe only a half day of sightseeing while the rest of the day is free for relaxation. This does not tire the elders as well. Attempts are also made to arrange cooking classes and visits to gardens and museums exclusively for the elders, if they so desire.
Do you provide services for luxury cruise passengers?
Both pre and post-cruise tours have been arranged for cruise lines that have arrived at Bombay and Cochin. Most of the arrangements have involved bringing guests to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then flying them back to the port.
