With a whirring sound, the blades of the rotor began moving. At first, slowly, but soon they were moving so fast that all I could see was a blur. Even though I was sitting inside the cabin and the door was shut, the noise was simply deafening.
Within a couple of minutes, we were airborne, as the helicopter took off, first with its nose down, and then as we gained more height, it levelled off and after a few more minutes we had reached our cruising altitude.
All this while, my eyes were glued to the views outside and I was relishing every moment of the first-ever helicopter ride in my life. I was in Jamaica to attend Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX) 2023 being held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in the northern part of the Caribbean Island.
Along with a handful of Indian travel agents specialised in outbound luxury travel from India, I was fortunate enough to be the sole media person from India to be invited by Jamaica Tourist Board to attend JAPEX 2023. The invitations were part of the strategy of the tourist board to boost the number of Indian travellers to the island nation, which has traditionally been favoured by well-heeled Indians, for organising destination weddings, anniversary celebrations or simply to enjoy a cruise in the Caribbean.
With a booming economy and the sharply rising number of millionaires in India, Jamaica has fixed its sights on promoting itself as an exclusive luxury destination in India.
And how better to promote it than by giving a taste of luxury? This was one of the primary reasons why we were in the bright-red coloured helicopter that had taken off moments earlier from a helipad at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, where JAPEX 2023 was taking place.
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Esta historia es de la edición November - December 2023 de India Outbound.
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