COVID19 lockdown: Time to travel within & promoting digital tourism | Exploring media story opportunity - Journey weavers, Boutique Travel Consultancy

Journey weavers,  Boutique Travel Consultancy. 

There are a plethora of ways to keep yourselves engaged during these days of lockdown. During this time, it is important to retain some sense of normalcy for a person's well-being. Nearly most of the people are free most of the time. And, this is the perfect time to find new hobbies and learn new things to enhance our skills. While binge-watching favorite series comes to the mind first, it’s perhaps more useful to view these for self-improvement. 

With more people focusing on the enhancement of skills and development of new hobbies while practicing social distancing and staying at home, Journey weavers have come up with live sessions with manifesting #TravelWitihIn for those who adore traveling but can not because of the quarantine and with the idea of engaging her audience.

Mrs. Shalini Sinha, Founder, Journey weavers are competent about the travel. She would be happy to share insights on:  

• Benefits of the online live session for people during the quarantine
• How travel companies are helping to promote digital tourism?
• How curators are helping deal with WFH and other stresses with live sessions
• Travel lover's guide to staying sane during this pandemic outbreak
• Discover your hidden talent in-home, during the lockdown 
• Ways to Survive the self-isolation

About Journey Weavers: Journey Weavers is a Delhi based Boutique Travel Consultancy that has crafted journeys for individuals and corporates to over 125 destinations since past 4 years. With a categorical focus on curating a journey for individuals and corporates, Journey Weavers plan thoroughly for one’s Journey, hand-picking & mixing it with happiness, a dash of adventure and a lot of mind-blowing views from all over the world.     

Shalini Raj, Travel Curator and Founder @ Journey Weavers

Being placed after her MBA, Shalini worked with Coca Cola for 9 years. Being a transferable job, Shalini always got to explore the country and had a curious streak to keep exploring.

With all the places that she started travelling to, not before long, Shalini also started suggesting her friends and family the places to visit. Soon, Shalini gave in to her inner calling and quit her job to start something on her own in Travel.

She believed in hassle-free travelling, not having to worry about the safety, having an inclination towards visiting offbeat locations, knowing a place, and experiencing the nuances of travelling while being out there and here at Journey Weavers, Shalini aspires to deliver the same experiences to those who choose to travel carefree.

The LaLiT supports the nation in times of COVID19

Mumbai, March: Today our nation is facing the single biggest challenge for its survival. The nation-wide lock down in the wake of COVID-19 comes with its own difficulties for everyone. It has adversely impacted the daily wage earners, those below poverty line and the most vulnerable who are not only fighting the epidemic but also hunger. 

The Lalit has taken the lead to support the Delhi Government’s initiative of feeding the needy by donating 1000 kg of wheat flour (Atta) and 300 kgs of refined wheat flour (Maida), over 700 kgs of vegetables from our own gardens in the last couple of days to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB). Similarly the remaining 11 hotels of the group are providing more than 1000 kg of atta, 500 kg of maida, 200 litres of oil, food supplies, fruits and vegetables to the relevant local authorities who are leading the food distribution. The Group is providing 400 meals a day at Nirmal Primary School Shelter, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi. These meals are cooked in the kitchens of The Lalit New Delhi and will be distributed till the lockdown continues.

This is something that The Group has been engaged in consistently for over three decades now. The Lalit has been providing daily fresh food to the special children at Mother Teresa’s Missionaries home for the last 32 years. In the recent past, the teams at the hotel have engaged in regular distribution drives with Robinhood Army in their mission to eradicate hunger.

Under the banner of Keshav Suri Foundation (KSF), we are reaching out to support the extremely marginalised and probably the worst affected transgender people through different NGOs such as Kinnar Maa Trust in Mumbai, Sangama in Bangalore and Saksham Trust in Chandigarh.  Through these NGOs we are providing them with over 500 kg of atta, groceries, fruits and vegetables. The Lalit and KSF have been at the forefront for upholding the rights of trans community for years now. KSF has also taken the initiative of extending mental health support to people who need help. Our onboard counsellors are giving free counselling to help people cope up with the situation and make it better. The Foundation has also started ‘Queering Quarantine’, an online series of talks, interactions and workshops to help people cope with this lockdown and utilise their time in learning and exploring new areas. 

Leading by example, Chairperson & Managing Director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, Dr Jyotsna Suri and the Executive Directors – Ms. Divya Suri, Ms. Deeksha Suri and Mr Keshav Suri, have decided to forgo their salaries for the next six months. The Executive leadership team has also voluntarily pitched in with a 50% pay cut.

“These are extraordinary times. COVID-19 is one of the toughest crisis ever faced by humanity. Everyone must do their bit to fight this pandemic. The need of the hour is to stand together and take care of those most affected. Together we can and we will overcome this.” said Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group.

The Group has also made available 100 rooms at The Lalit New Delhi for doctors serving at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and GB Pant Hospital.

5 platforms helping to ease payments digitally during COVID19

With the recent Coronavirus outbreak, even the mere job of going to an ATM to withdraw cash has caused paranoia in many individuals. In such a case where cash may not be readily available, digital payment platforms have taken the front seat in enabling any payments to be made by an individual on a daily basis.

Here are 5 major apps that help in making payments digiatlly and make life easy:

1. PayTM

PayTM, the most common and popular apps among the current millennial generation in India offers you the option to transfer money into a digital wallet and use it to make payments. It was launched in 2010 and followed a semi-closed model, which takes advantage of the enormous mobile and smartphone market.

Any user can use the app to make payments in stores that have tie-ups with the company. Other uses of PayTM include making bill payments, transferring cash, and avail the services of travel and entertainment websites. Currently, it is also utilized to make cashless fee payments in educational institutes.

2. Xpay.Life

Blockchain-based platform XPay.Life offers an array of digital payment services, including touch screen ATP kiosk, web, mobile app, POS device and others. The platform caters to both B2B as well as B2C segment. The company providing the highest level of transparency during transactions. It has partnered with leading banks to further expand its reach. XPay.Life has completed 1 Lakh transactions worth INR 5 Cr, since its beta version launch in 2019. The company offers services across 18+ cities in India with 50K plus pin code locations. In the last ten months, it also claims to have achieved 100% month-on-month growth. People can pay for their Electricity, Mobile prepaid & postpaid services, DTH, Broadband, LPG, Loan EMI etc. through the Xpay Life App and web version. The platform has 253 billers across Tier 1 & 2 towns and wide reach to 50000+ pin codes in Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities across India.

3. Google Pay

Currently, you can see Google Pay is a payment option in almost all brick and mortar as well as online stores. It can be used to quickly send money to friends, pay bills, buy anything online, order food, recharge your phone, or shop at stores. It links your existing bank account to the app and does not require you to load wallets or verify KYC since it is directly connected to your bank.

4. PhonePe

Yet another digital wallet app, PhonePe can be used to conduct UPI payments, do recharges, and ensure secure money transfers as well as online bill payments. Since it comes with a very easy-to-use user interface, it is one of the most common apps in India.

5. Mobikwik

MobiKwik is a widely used digital wallet app in online retail stores. You can add money using your debit, credit card, and net banking account into the mobile wallet and then utilize this money to recharge or pay bills and shop at online sites. Several grocery stores, as well as food establishments, use MobikWik, especially for its feature called expense tracker, which offers the unique option of monitoring spends and maintaining a budget.