”The Nomad” settled down once the fire, potter’s wheel & weapons helped him with agricultural practises. Centuries passed and trade began to shape up culture, traditions and societies.  Rich & Poor came into being creating further layers of the society which was earlier much based on skills. Keeping this course in mind, I guess leisure travel must have started during the industrial revolution when people could actually afford to do it. Since then it has evolved and we are gearing up to explore travel in the new normal.

My childhood has been a blessed one since those were the days I could spend most of my time in nature. I had time to speak to the trees, name my cows and play in the river diving deep into its waters. When it was time for me to choose a career I was unable to think of anything else but the one that promotes the well-being of this Planet- Our Home. In 2010 I founded my first venture “Chanthakkaree” a Marketing & Sales platform for eco-friendly lifestyle products and ideas. I conducted events across Kerala and was happy with the results. By then I was sure of one thing- for any impact to happen, the common man has to have access to the solutions. And most of the time these solutions (products or practises) are way too expensive or exclusive and out of their reach. There has to be more efforts to create awareness and access. That called for a practical, intelligent & effective socio-economic plan.

In 2014 I accidentally “fell” into the Travel Industry and hosted more than 3000 travellers at my serviced villas in Calicut and Wayanad till 2018. Thanks to my then colleague Prasad Ramachandran, I had the opportunity to learn quite a lot of details about the segment. Basically we were catering to those travellers who depended on online travel portals to make reservations at small vacation rentals. Learnings from this venture prompted me to take a leap- to promote Responsible Travel. In 2018 Igloopupa was founded, it was selected as One of the Top Hundred Business Ideas in India and was incubated in the Women Startup Program at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore. This program was supported by Goldman Sachs and the Ministry of Science and Technology Government of India.

Igloopupa is a web platform that helps responsible travellers make reservations at Eco-friendly vacation rentals. We promote unique, hygienic and eco-friendly home-stays, camp sites, tree houses, farm stays, boutique hotels and other speciality stays in India. Most listings are personally verified too. Organic food, personalised attention from hosts, architectural uniqueness, location advantage etc. are a few other things that make our rentals stay apart from the rest of the options. We cater to the slow traveller who is conscious about the quality of services offered and the impact their choice has on the Planet.

Tourism is the 2nd Largest Industry in the World contributing to 10% of Global GDP. The impact it has on Earth is measurable and for the same reason it is high time we think of its potential to help Planet & Recoup. Jobs, safe work environment, economic development, creative solutions, better social conditions, the list of things that can be achieved, is not short. Make sure that you travel, make sure that you choose the right place and people for your stay. Make sure you choose Igloopupa.

#travelistransformational