Rajnish Sabharwal is the Chief Operating Officer at The Ultimate Travelling Camp (TUTC) since 2014. In a career spanning over 24 years, he has donned many hats and contributed immensely to the luxury travel segment in India. He tells us more about his ongoing task of selling mobile luxury tents in India.

THE IDEA behind introducing India’s first luxury mobile tents was to offer ‘evolved travellers’ a seamless blend between the pleasures of being close to nature or having unique travel experiences in carefully selected exceptional locations in the mountains, deserts, jungles and unexplored countryside. To take travellers beyond sight-seeing and allow them to explore new cultures, interact with the local people, their traditions and overall way of life.

“Travellers not only get to visit mesmerising landscapes but also immerse themselves in the entire experience of the local culture and feel part of the destination. We have designed our itineraries for each camp in a way that suits the interests, choices and leisure of travellers,” says Sabharwal.

The luxury travel segment has evolved in the past few years in India and it is bound to grow rapidly gaining prominence from the millenials, as spending continues to rise on luxury products and services. The consumer base of people wanting to splurge is slowly and gradually increasing. Sabharwal feels that the luxury travel is no longer a privilege only for the rich. “This segment in India is gaining prominence not just from the affluent but also from the experience hungry middle class traveller who is seeking exotic and unique holiday experiences. Today, the Indian traveller has evolved from economic budget centric to experiential high end luxury traveller. Destination weddings and luxury MICE segments that are more inclined towards experiential and exotic destinations is also changing the face of the luxury travel in India.”

However, there are a couple of challenges that need to be addressed. While glamping is a niche segment, it caters to the evolved travellers who have travelled a lot and now look beyond the confines of a 5 star hotel. “We have a defined target audience who know what to expect and who have seen possibly the best of luxury. The challenge is to exceed their expectations and to craft an experience that they can remember,” feels Sabharwal.

In Nagaland, TUTC takes land from seven tribals and pays them for the whole year. “We are a eco-friendly company and never leave our footprints hence never leave the land polluted,” he says.

TUTC has pioneered in glamping in India, and to sustain a constant and long term curiosity among its clients, Sabharwal believes in engaging with the target audience through different mediums of communication. TUTC partners with leading Destination Management Companies (DMCs) to leverage their existing relationships in reaching out to premium customers. It also partners with the leading tour operators and leverage their advantage over the foreign tourist market, associated with the Virtuoso network that have been giving access to a rich portfolio of luxury suppliers and travellers across the world. “We are also exploring tier 2 & tier 3 market for further investments,” he adds.

Nevertheless, there is a demand for glamping as a concept even though from a niche segment of travellers, there is an opportunity to explore and introduce this in India, one of the most diverse lands with its massive collection of natural habitats and ecological wonders.

From its first camp for the Maha Kumbh in 2013, the Chamba in Thiksey in June 2013, followed by Kohima, Nagaland in December 2014 which coincided with the Hornbill Festival tents in Diskit in 2015, TUTC has been catering to about 50-odd aesthetically beautiful air-conditioned tents – Luxury and Presidential Suites – that blend right into the local area. The camps offer international, Indian and regional cuisines with in-house organic garden produces to pamper visitors with a world-class cuisine.