THE GLOBE TROTTER
Dipaali Bhatt
IF A BACHELOR’S BASH ON A yacht in Croatia or a romantic anniversary dinner on a private island off Fiji is your idea of travel, Dipaali Bhatt, 42, promises to make your dreams come true with her luxury travel consultancy, Holidays And More. “Gujarat has been a market for group tours for a while now but the luxury travel market is fast growing,” says Bhatt who curates customised luxury travel experiences around the world. She’s organised an all-vegetarian culinary tour of Morocco, arranged a session in Italian cooking for a couple in a villa in Tuscany and is now set to take a group of men for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan early next year. “Gujaratis are avid travellers who usually take at least two holidays a year and are always looking for something new,” says Bhatt. The ‘something new’ is evident in the holidays she’s planned—a young couple took off on a safari in Botswana for their honeymoon; a group of women are going to see the Northern Lights in February and she’s organised a self-drive tour for a family. On her travel planning list are also foreign tourists who she takes on-board the Deccan Odyssey and other luxury experiences. “The hot destinations are east Europe, Japan, Croatia, Bora Bora and Fiji,” she says. Bhatt, who spent nine years planning luxury travel, is predictably an avid traveller who takes off on a holiday all by herself once a year. “It helps me explore new experiences which I can then plan for my clients,” she says. PRICE Customised holidays start at Rs 1.75 lakh AT 805 Parwanath Business Park, Pralhadnagar TEL 40035222