All smiles at travel fare

CHIANG MAI became the star of the show as a group of Indian travel agents attending a conference in the historic capital fell in love with her charms.

Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) held their annual meeting at the Shangri La Chiang Mai Hotel and everyone was very impressed with what they found.

Anand Sandil was one such professional who attended and pledged to return to the city for a family holiday after enjoying his time so much.

The Fun Holidays Instant Reservations managing director is one of the leading promoters of domestic tourism for India.

Mr Sandil and his wife have been working side-by-side for 20 years and have recently been promoting the Nirvana Gardens and Bintan Island.

Fun Holidays has been so successful in recent years that more than 250,000 holidaymakers have used the organisation to make their holiday arrangements.

Now, Mr Sandil and his wife are planning to expand their reach into Chiang Mai. Having enjoyed their stay in the northern city so much, the couple will now look to promote tourism from India to Chiang Mai.

Visitors will depart Mumbai around 9pm and arrive in the Chiang Mai early on the following day. Mr Sandil is estimating that his wife and he will be able to generate upwards of 5,000 new visitors over the next few years.

Mr Sandil added that travel for Indians is becoming increasingly more simple as bank controls are lifted on travelling abroad.