As children, holidays were meant for visiting grandparents and extended families only. However; today, the definition of holidays have not only evolved from simply visiting a place or ticking the boxes off that bucket list, travellers these days have opened out to be experimenting with their vacations and do not shy away from indulging in immersive activities.

Experiential holidays is the new age livery within the travel and tourism industry. From zip- lining in Cherrapunji to caving in Meghalaya, from meeting the last head- hunters of Nagaland to cooking thukpas at local homestay in Arunachal Pradesh and from experiencing the eerie silence of Silent Valley National Park in Kerala to enjoying the sweetness of water from Siruvani dam in Coimbatore which is ranked as 2^nd among sweetest water in the world are some of the indulgences that can be counted amongst immersive holiday experiences.

India never fails to surprise with its hidden gems when it comes to unveiling untapped destinations. With time, even travel companies have revamped themselves in terms of uniqueness in approach to provide best-in-class customer experiences with the promise of being unforgettable and brag-worthy. One such travel company that calls their signature holidays as ‘shots of life’ is Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a Thomas Cook and Fairfax Company.

The New Sterling

Last week, I was invited for the Indiblogger meet hosted by Sterling Holidays. The occasion was to unveil the brand new look of Sterling along with their new Discovery mascot “Raja Rex” and an introduction to Sterling’s offbeat destinations and heritage trail packages that are symbolic to their new mission– “Holiday Differently”.

With an absolutely new, vibrant and unique logo that represents a pinwheel, Sterling promises to break away from the mundane through its offerings and strives to become the “Experiential Holiday Brand”, a first of its kind within the travel category landscape. “Experience is the center of travel and Sterling is in pursuit of moving towards better consumerism and experiences” said Peshwa Acharya, Chief Marketing Officer of Sterling Holidays.

While the new logo represents motion and dynamism, the colors purple, red and yellow stand out for rich experiences and discoveries in case of purple, red stands for desire and passion of people whereas yellow is for the energy of diverse places. The most interesting revelation was that the company offers comprehensive travel insurance throughout the holiday period, becoming India’s first company to offer door to door holiday insurance.

With the all-new look and agenda, Sterling now offers curated holiday experiences to offbeat places in India ranging from nature to culinary and heritage to culture trails.

Sterling Dindi offers food and culture trail with the guests immersing in Konaseema culture, experimenting with the local cuisine and learn to make “Paper Sweet” which is locally called “Pootharekulu”. Did you know, Dindi in East Godavari has the second largest mangroves in India, only after the Sundarbans.

Similarly, Sterling Ooty offers curated journey to experience the lifestyle of the indigenous Toda tribe as a part of their heritage trail whereas, Sterling Corbett allows you to sleep under million stars during their star-gazing nights.

India – Amongst most vacation-deprived countries

It came as a revelation that India is ranked 5^th amongst the most vacation-deprived countries. In view of this, such short, up and close experiences would encourage people to take up more and more vacations without having to give much thought before booking their tickets and get to discover themselves in the process.

Lastly, it was an amazing experience with Indiblogger once again, having the opportunity to meet fellow bloggers.

Let’s Holiday Differently and  find inspiration.