From when we began it seemed but natural to gather our hotel community alongside the travel fraternity and media in a relaxed setting, as well as in more formal and educational atmospheres. This endeavour took flight in 2009 under the banner of RARE, propelled by the distinguished hoteliers of the growing community. Their personal brand and exemplary work have been a source of inspiration for the industry. With each passing year, their brands flourished, under the RARE umbrella or beyond. Many boutique hotels proudly trace their origins back to RARE, where they first navigated the nuances and vernacular of the travel industry.
The RARE Showcase: Amidst the clamour of large brands and the repetitiveness of concepts, the delicate essence and presence of our hotel partners can easily be overshadowed. Having started in the year 2017, the year 2023 marked the sixth edition of the RARE Showcase , in which it persevered through a brief name change and challenges of the pandemic. Entirely orchestrated by RARE, fifty hoteliers had a stellar platform to share their unique stories, adopt a no-plastic and low-impact approach, integrate technology, and maintain solidarity with the community, ensuring their narratives remain authentic and unfettered by the dominance of larger brands. During the pandemic, we transitioned from a physical event to the virtual realm with RAREfied, becoming one of the first events to harness the outreach and seamlessness of Zoom and live chats, wherein we achieved 20 hours online and engaged over 3000 viewers, even as the world around us stood still.
View Glimpses of RARE Showcase 2023
BRIDGES for Conscious Travel: RARE's annual conference is now BRIDGES - envisioned as a catalyst for championing travel as a force for good, dedicated to building a global network of changemakers committed to eco-friendly and inclusive travel. This singular event aspires to inspire global collaborators by illuminating responsible tourism in the subcontinent, highlighting groundbreaking success stories of owner-run hotels and niche experience curators. BRIDGES aims to create a vibrant space for candid conversations, unafraid to pose questions or address challenges, and pioneers the notion that carbon emissions could serve as a benchmark for gauging sustainable travel and hospitality practices. A detailed overview of the impact of BRIDGES by RARE, 2024 can be viewed here. BRIDGES for Conscious Travel, edition 2025 is scheduled for April 3, 4 and 5 of 2025.
Review of BRIDGES by RARE 2024Discover by RARE: We revolutionized the industry with our Discover Series, eschewing five-star glamour and alcohol in favour of the iconic Chai & Samosa of the India International Centre. Featuring knowledge sessions that kept travel partners informed through hotel presentations and expert talks, Discover also enriched partnering travel companies with a master class on social media and communication strategies. During the pandemic, we seamlessly transitioned to an online format for the tenth year of Discover RARE in 2020. As our presence in the domestic market grew stronger, a forward-thinking vision that proved invaluable during the pandemic, Discover by RARE expanded to regional centres. We hosted day events in Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai, along with independent roadshows in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
As our footprint in the domestic market deepened, an early vision that worked for our community during the Pandemic, Discover RARE spread to regional centres as day events in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and as independent road shows in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
Reaching out to Esoteric Travellers: Small hotels often face budget constraints and struggle with visibility, particularly amongst niche end-travellers looking for the kind of experience that our hotel partners excel at offering. RARE has tapped into the communities attending events like Embassy fairs, Expat networking events, Diwali melas, Heritage fairs, India Craft Week, The Earth Collective, and many other synergistic gatherings to introduce our hotel community to the final customer base. This largely untrumpeted effort aims to generate direct leads for our hoteliers.
Trade Exhibitions: For years, the RARE Pavilion at the Great India Travel Bazaar (GITB), SATTE, and international fairs like ITB Berlin and WTM London have been a catalyst for conversations about unique, owner-run hotels. We maintained this momentum by participating in UNITE (US & Canada), Connections Virtual Week (September 2020), Connections Asia Forum (February 2021), and ILTM Cannes (December 2023).