With Covid-19 cases decreased all over the world and tourist destinations are gradually opening. Travellers are ready to hit the road to visit new and exciting places. The conventional mode of travelling remains the preferred choice of many travellers and others are experimenting with new modes like a caravan. It is a new concept and slowly growing in India with several state governments pushing for it, especially after a pandemic.
Recently, Kerala tourism introduces caravan tourism packages for tourists. Director of Kerala tourism VR Krishna Tej said “150 people have registered for bringing 350 caravans and around 90 people for bringing around 120 caravan parks”. After the opening of the state’s first caravan parks in Vagamon as a part of the state government’s new Caravan Tourism Policy. A Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur also announced the promotion of caravan tourism for new tourist destinations.
As defined by the government of India, Caravan is a unique tourism product that promotes family-oriented tour destinations that do not have adequate hotel accommodation. Sachin Panchal, founder, Motohom — the official caravan vendor of Maharashtra said, “Caravan tourism gives you the freedom to live and travel hassle-free — from where you want to settle, freedom to go to sleep to the sound of nature, to waking up next to the beach.”
Also, Panchal said, “ according to our statistics, because of covid people want to travel with the limited crowd with their family and close ones. A caravan is the best way as they provide all of it.”
Jigyashu Joshi, co-founder, Caravan India agreed and said, “We are seeing the curve going only upward in the last two years. The inclination has increased post-covid not just among youngsters but also among the elderly. This is mainly because of the safety it provides. People want to travel in bubbles and caravans provide just that.”
Captain Suresh Sharma, founder, Green Dot Expedition said, “I have been running caravans for over 20 years but the demand and queries have grown only post-pandemic.” “However, I believe it will still take a lot of time for people to understand what it actually is. Caravan tourism is not about travelling only for a couple of days, it is going to a nice location to spend days and weeks there.” Caravan tourism is the future of India’s travel sector.