My next destination was Udaipur in Rajasthan situated in western part of India. The Lake Palace in Udaipur is one of most exotic hotels that I ever stayed. The hotel is located in middle of blue waters of lake Pichola and practically looks floating in water from a near by fort.

Built way back in 1754 by Maharana Jagat singh, palace is today maintained by Taj group of hotels and offers prefect ambiance for a romantic stay. The palace has 85 beautiful rooms along with special suites and fascinates everyone with its lustrous marble pillars, ancient paintings and unbelievable works of arts including glasswork. I almost felt like staying in a fantasy island with my room overlooking a refreshing lily pond.

Udaipur also has many other palace hotels but none can be compared to Lake Palace. I was also fascinated by ‘Laxmi Vilas Palace’ which was once a guest house to serve British guests.

Bikaner house (Bharatpur House) In Mount Abu

Mount Abu in Rajasthan is another hill station that fascinated me. Mount Abu has a host of palace hotels as this was a favorite hill station for Maharajas. I decided to stay in Bikaner House palace which is located in one of most scenic locations in Mount Abu. This palace built in 1893 was used as a summer residence for ancient kings.

The palace is well maintained and has spacious rooms that have ancient paintings and art work. The rooms overlook mystic hills that look so much in peace with them-selves. It almost gave me a heaven on earth kind of an experience.

One more palace hotel which fascinated me in Mount Abu was Sunrise palace which is situated in one its highest points. This palace hotel was built somewhere in year 1920, and is quite popular with couples looking for a romantic getaway.

Nilambagh Palace in Bhavnagar

My objective of visiting Bhavnagar, a relatively lesser known tourist destination in western India was to stay in famous Nilambagh Palace. Built by Maharaja Bhavsinghji in year 1723 this palace looks like a piece of architecture in itself. The palace is surrounded by lush gardens and has 18 AC rooms and 5 cottages. The rooms are spacious and offer an extremely luxurious stay. The room in which I was put up overlooked beautiful lawns down below; and I could hear birds chirping and wind blowing mildly over me. The whole atmosphere was so tranquil; it really took me to a different world.

The best part about palace was way it has been designed and maintained. All rooms had antique furniture, beautiful chandeliers and belgian mirrors. Then there was this striking swimming pool that has been designed like a roman bath with marble steps and white walkways. Taking a dip in that exotic pool which was specifically meant for maharajas was I thought a true privilege.

The palace on Wheels

The ‘palace on Wheels’ is not a hotel or a palace, but a maharaja style train that is run by government of India for tourism purposes. I was recommended to make this train journey by a fellow traveler and believe me; I was glad I took his advice.

This train is designed for purpose of giving its voyagers a taste of ancient India and covers all major destinations and heritage spots in Rajasthan. Starting from Delhi (the Indian capital), train takes you to all major destinations in Rajasthan that include Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra and back to Delhi in a seven day journey. I really got a good insight about tales of Indian kings and queens and their lifestyles at end of these seven unforgettable days.

The interiors of train look no less than a five star palace hotel and that goes for rooms too. The rooms are comfy, contain artistic furniture and include a private bath; now what more could you ask for?

When boarding my plane back home, there was a strange nostalgic feeling that had crept over me. But I was glad of one thing; I had lived out my dream of living like an Indian Maharaja.

Trust is more than ever a central concern for travel purchasers. By nature, product cannot be tried before purchase, and businesses on Web must still overcome a healthy skepticism about trustworthiness of companies and offers they discover online. Speedy decision-making is also important, as most frequent travelers are often also most pressed for time; particularly as number of competing tourism choices threatens to overwhelm their ability to choose.

There is an important opportunity for "experts" to support decision-making about tourism purchases. Agents and intermediaries which add real value with their specialist expertise and personal service will remain relevant and successfully navigate shifting roles in travel distribution. New demand and opportunities for sustainable tourism

Even smallest operators, like community-based tourism groups, can generate their own demand. Where distributors remain necessary, they can negotiate distribution from a position of greater strength, and reduce price pressure on their tourism products.

While price pressures and competition have characterized most parts of industry, there has been sustained or increased demand for luxury accommodations, tours, and other travel packages. The trends are not mutually exclusive within one set of purchase decisions: "Luxury travelers" may choose budget transportation, expensive accommodations, and adventure tours (which might previously have been seen as incongruous choices). More consumer access to information, better product customization, and more attention to demand-led marketing are both revealing and producing more complex travel purchase habits. The "package holiday" approach to tourism products may be on its way out. An increase (2-3% from 1993-2003) in tour customizations may be related to this trend toward individualization.

Active travelers have not been deterred by security concerns, but have also traveled more regionally. Self-identified "active travelers" intend to increase travel expenditures over next few years. According to World Tourism Organization, "active travelers" rate available activities higher than destination in terms of importance to their purchase decisions.

Eco-tourism, nature tourism, hard adventure, soft adventure, sports tourism, and health tourism count among top growth sectors. For example, World Tourism Organization estimates that market for nature tourism is increasing at 6 times rate of tourism overall.

There appears to be evidence for a "self-actualization" dividend (if not a "green dividend") for tourism sales. There are signs of increasing interest in travel for reasons of personal growth, assertion of individuality, human connection, and "authentic experience", among segments of major outbound markets. These segments overlap markets for "luxury experience" and new, "exotic", "individual" consumer goods. These travelers appear more flexible about price ("price elastic"), when they can be convinced that an experience offers significant additional value (in terms of interests listed above).

These consumer and lifestyle groups have been called "Cultural Creatives" in USA; "New Authentics", "Style-Lifers" and "Neo-consumers" in Europe (the groups and findings represented by these terms are not totally interchangeable, but appear to overlap more than not on characteristics important to tourism decisions). As an example of these groups' significance: original research done about "Cultural Creatives" showed they represent 25% of adult U.S. population at time of study—the polling group American Lives estimates that they amount to 50 million people including both U.S.A. and Europe. Find links to defining marketing studies in Resources section at www.Leave-Home.com.

The desirability of market segments which use travel consciously as a means of personal growth and a defining "lifestyle accessory" will lead to increased use of "lifestyle marketing" through partnerships with producers of psychologically-associated products and related organizations. These tourists require different marketing approaches; they appear not to respond well to direct marketing, for example; are avid media consumers; and tend to require corroboration of information from a trusted authority or personal acquaintance.

Sustainable tourism products are poised to take advantage of preceding trends, as lifestyle products in line with demand for organic foods, Fair Trade products, and "natural health-care", all "luxury," "individual", and "authentic" products, of demonstrated appeal to people in these "new lifestyle" groups.

Sustainability is of increasing concern to tourism organizations of all sectors. The effort at "greening" tourism is now focus of hundreds of initiatives and conferences, as well as certification efforts, worldwide. Many of largest institutional donors have recognized its validity and value as an approach and a goal, and include sustainability as a central criterion in their development packages—and major donors are increasingly turning to tourism development to achieve overall development goals.

Sustainability will increase in importance as a central part of donor organizations' project goals, project recommendations, and donation criteria. Economic viability, as a component of sustainability and project value, will be of increasing concern to donors. (The eco-tourism portal Planeta.com hosted an online conference on eco-tourism financing in 2002. A summary is available on their site.)

(Seattle, USA; August 2004)