The Indian aviation watchdog, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said Monday that it issued a decade-high of 1,622 commercial pilot licenses in 2023, up from 1,165 licenses in 2022.
15.12.2023 - 12:31 / cntraveler.com
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We dive into the thorny issue of passport privilege thanks this week’s guest, Shahnaz Habib, author of the new book Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel. Why do some travelers gain more visa-free access than others? Who determines how a place is seen through the lens of its guidebooks? And what does the word “wanderlust” mean, exactly? Shahnaz seeks to answer all that and more, and shares some of her own travel stories.
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Lale Arikoglu: Hello, I'm Lale Arikoglu. And welcome to an episode of Women Who Travel, where we set out to challenge what it means to be a tourist. Are bucket lists and guidebooks a good thing or a bad thing? Should we actually be using the word "wanderlust"? And why do some passports gain more visa-free access to countries than others?
Shahnaz Habib: I started getting interested in all these conditions that came about as a result of Colonialism, as a result of the way our passports are structures, as a, sort of the way guidebooks prioritize certain perspectives, and how that history then shapes modern tourism.
LA: Asking all these questions and more is my guest Shahnaz Habib, who grew up in a small town in Kerala in South India, went to Delhi for college, and now lives in Brooklyn. When her father travels from India to visit her, he thoroughly enjoys exploring just a few streets around her apartment. He finds it "perfectly fulfilling," he says. It's a perspective that's reshaping her own outlook on travel. And it's the genesis of her book Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel.
SH: I am really interested in how travel is a really consumerist activity at the heart of it. Um, we have all these noble aspirations around travel. And, you know, we're often told you're not a buying a thing, you're experiencing the world. But, there is a lot of consumerism involved in that, within that experience. And the global tourism industry is so clever at dressing this consumerist activity as this sort of educational or self-care activity.
LA: At the start of the book, Shahnaz is in a hostel in Istanbul, questioning the wisdom of seeing a place through the prism of a guidebook. And perhaps surprisingly, she calls herself a bad traveler.
SH: I had this image of a good traveler is someone who just gets up in the morning, gets to a place, walks out of the door, you know, is able to go to the palace and all the monuments, and then find, like, some cozy restaurant that nobody else has eaten in. And
The Indian aviation watchdog, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), said Monday that it issued a decade-high of 1,622 commercial pilot licenses in 2023, up from 1,165 licenses in 2022.
There’s plenty of evidence that 2024 will be a watershed year for luxury travel.
If they can grow tea in England, why not Scotland? So pondered Susie Walker-Munro after hearing about Cornwall’s Tregothnan Estate. An idea took root, but her plan wouldn’t be without challenges — not least Scotland’s short growing season and harsh winters.
Where do you find spectacular and life-changing destinations that are without the hordes that have become commonplace in so many destinations worldwide, particularly in Europe? Last week in Forbes, I asked some travel experts about where people are going. This week, I asked the same gurus about their choices for where to go next. I was looking for off-the-radar destinations they love, places to go before they get discovered.
Sometimes traveling with your family or young children in tow requires a different set of needs from your hotel. For example, if staying on budget is important, you may value free parking more than room service. And on the other hand, if you're looking to splurge on spa or babysitting services, you'll find yourself looking for accommodations with those amenities instead.
Surely at some point in your childhood, you sat in front of a globe and spun it around and around until your index finger landed on a random spot. As adults, we rely on content, recommendations, or our own instincts when it comes to visiting a specific destination. To make it a bit easier: Tell us your favorite color and we'll tell you where to travel.
2023 has been a challenging year for air travel, with the aviation industry plagued by strikes, system hiccups and disruptive weather conditions.
With its sensational national parks, beguiling cities, rich Indigenous culture and dramatic landscapes – ranging from towering Andean mountains and high-altitude lakes to shimmering salt flats and dense Amazonian rainforests – Bolivia is a magnet for travelers from across the globe.
In this series of articles, I talk to a wide range of travel experts, insiders and luxury brands to find out more about the future of travel for next year and beyond. In Part 1, I wrote about the search for authentic travel and how technology can elevate travel experiences. For Part 2, I spoke to Black Tomato about the rise in people wanting to capture special moments through travel experiences. In Part 3, I looked at the rise of sustainable architecture, the return of maximalist hotel design and the quest for the best of sleep science. In Part 4, Cazenove+Loyd x Globetrender revealed their seven key travel trends for 2024. For Part 5, I spoke to wellness experts about the growth in demand for immersive well-being experiences when travelling. Today, for Part 6, and the last article in this Trends series, I write about a return to age-old traditions in the burgeoning wellness industry.
Black Friday came and went, but wanderlust runs year-round. While some travel brands are taking a brief hiatus from offering deals to plot their next slate of promotions, plenty of discounts remain yours for the taking this winter. Maybe you’re eager to flock somewhere where the sun’s still shining, or are currently in an unseasonably warm climate and desperate for snow. Wherever you’re itching to go next, you have tons of great options.
Destinations worldwide have increasingly moved to lift visa requirements as part of their strategy to increase visitor numbers — visa processing delays are a major obstacle to the industry’s full recovery.
The first person I asked, “hey, how would you feel about getting a hair transplant in Türkiye?” replied, “uhhh…weirded out.”