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The new India is traveling like never before. Thanks to the travel spirit, knowledge, awareness and disposable income in hand, the new generation of travelers are a tad bit different from the earlier breed. If you follow the travel trait, earlier the international travel or domestic travel was limited to a few popular destinations.<br />
<br /> But suddenly the travelers aren’t really looking for a 3 nights 4 day’s stay at 6 different places of <keyword id="28504" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala">Kerala</keyword> and then hopping into the next flight back home. Today’s travellers are far more open to experiment and explore. They don’t bother if they miss out on a few places on the itinerary than to experience something more specific to a particular location.<br />
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Making such things easier for travellers in India and abroad is a Bangalore based start up, <a href="https://www.byond.travel">Byond.travel</a>. Established by a group of travel professionals, <keyword id="1497582" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Byond">Byond</keyword>.travel offers hand-crafted trips, carefully picked keeping the wider preferences and sensibilities of the travelers in mind.<br />
<br /> Byond.travel organizes individual experiential and leads small-group journeys for like-minded travellers. The groups range from women-only travellers to yoga, bikers to wine lovers, mom &amp; kids, kayaking in <keyword id="163812" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Antartica">Antartica</keyword>, African Safari Expereinces . On request, they will even help you create a customized journey for your own private group!<br />
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So be it culture, history, people to people connect, food, shopping, off-beat activities, or just adventure tours, spirituality or wellness, the travellers coming to India needs to express their desire and the team at Byond.travel will customize the travel plan.<br />
<br /> The man behind strategy and development at Byond.travel, <keyword id="3694039" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-kishore">Amit Kishore</keyword>, who is also the co-founder of <keyword id="3723698" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="eastbound-group">Eastbound Group</keyword>, one of India’s leading travel group. He is playing a role of investor, co founder and mentor at Byond.travel, <keyword id="4778" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit">Amit</keyword> shares his insight with us.<br />
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“Discover yourself… through us. Whether its photographic expeditions, cullinary expereince , nature trail -cycling or just walking trips that makes you have a wow expereince – we design experiences that will put a new dimension to the word ‘discovery’. Tell us what you love or dream and we can customize a trip according to it, to help you discover and hone your inner traveller,” said Amit.<br />
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For example, if you are interested in design and photography, Art Deco to Victorian, Mughal to miniature; India’s rich heritage, vivid design, and architecture will be of your interest. Byond will make a plan where you will just be focusing on exclusively these and yet build a trip around it to make it more fulfilling.<br />
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Also the upcoming festivals in India are a big draw to tourists. While these were happening in an unorganized mode, Byond.travel has brought a customization in the festival travel circuit where the destinations and the festivals can be synchronized well. While these have been a plan for many experienced groups, this start up has made it possible.<br />
<br /> And if you are far more adventurous, you can self drive to <keyword id="55091" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iceland">Iceland</keyword> and <keyword id="6358619" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="jordan">Jordan</keyword> or plan a trip to Alaska. Well, you just dream of it and Amit and his team would help you realize.<br />
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<strong>Here is the list of upcoming tours from Byond.Travel:</strong><br />
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<strong><keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Women">Women</keyword> only <keyword id="21474" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Italy">Italy</keyword>: </strong>02 - 08 Dec : Rs 120,000<br />
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<strong><keyword id="236732" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kingdom">Kingdom</keyword> of the Thunder Dragon</strong> - Bhutan Photography Expedition: 20 OCT - 25 OCT - Rs 62,000 ( co-branded and marketed by <keyword id="11151" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Olympus">Olympus</keyword> and led by award-winning photographer <keyword id="3723699" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhishek-hajela">Abhishek Hajela</keyword>)<br />
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<strong>The <keyword id="76379" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dead-Sea">Dead Sea</keyword> Drive : </strong>Jordan ( self drive): Rs 10,2000<br />
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<strong><keyword id="6357856" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="greece">Greece</keyword>: Gods, Myths and Mortals</strong> : 5 - 12 NOV: Rs 95,900<br />
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<strong>Bhutan for the <keyword id="3723696" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="golden-club">Golden Club</keyword> (for Sr. Citizens) </strong>: 20 OCT - 25 OCT - Rs 59,000<br />
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<strong>Pho’ever <keyword id="13486" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vietnam">Vietnam</keyword> </strong>: Women only : 3 -9 DEC - Rs 55,900<br />
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<strong>Yomaste <keyword id="3723700" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sikkim-darjeeling">Sikkim &amp; Darjeeling</keyword></strong> - A yoga retreat- 20 - 26 NOV : Rs 49000<br />
<br />
(Image: Pixabay)<br />

A self drive trip to the Dead Sea
or a yoga trip to the Himalayas: this Bengaluru start up is offering such
experiential trips

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa took to Twitter on Thursday to tell President Donald Trump that the tax cuts in the tax reform package he is pitching would not be the largest in the history of the US.<p>Grassley, who chaired the Senate Finance Committee when former President George W. Bush's tax cuts were passed in 2001, adjusted the cuts from that package into 2016 dollars to make his point.</p><p>In a speech last month, Trump touted that his plan would provide "the largest tax cut in our country's history," a point he has made on multiple occassions. The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/09/28/fact-checking-president-trumps-tax-speech-in-indianapolis/?utm_term=.981bb5fe106e" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rated the claim</a> as untrue "when properly measured as a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product."</p><p>Grassley wrote that, when adjusted to 2016 dollars, the amount cut in 2001 was equal to $1.85 trillion in cuts. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/us/politics/senate-budget-tax-cuts-arctic-refuge-drilling.html?_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Senate budget blueprint</a> unveiled last month provides room for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts as a result of Trump's tax plan.</p><p>Still, Grassley said that Trump's "tax framework sets out badly needed cuts."</p><h2>Read Grassley's tweets:</h2><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-ai-sexist-racist-video-satya-nadella-tech-company-karma-raise-2017-9">Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella realized he had a sexist bias - here's how he confronted it</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Top Republican senator tweets at Trump to say his tax cut won't be the 'largest in history of country'

<br /> Budget 2017 by the <keyword id="6355261" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword> wasn’t much of an excitement for the tourism industry except for announcing establishing of five special tourism zones in the next financial year.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">ALSO READ: COMMON MAN'S BUDGET</a><br />
<br />
Prior to the budget, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">Business Insider had discussed</a> what the hurdles in this industry are. What needed to be done like tax-free bonds and income tax exceptions on profits used in re-investment in the tourism sector, development of tourism infrastructure at heritage site, setting up centres for adventure activities and experiential zones weren’t addressed. More support to drive job creation in this industry will help improve the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">poverty alleviation</a> in the country.<br />
<br />
<strong>Travel industry without sunshine</strong><br />
"The Budget 2017 has once again disappointed the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">travel industry</a>. Despite being a key sector of the economy that brings multiplier benefits, the travel and tourism sector stands largely ignored. Our concerns about high tax rates are valid concerns and we are dejected that the government paid no heed to them. Across the world, governments provide huge incentives and tax breaks to the travel industry to encourage <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">inflow of tourists</a>. However, in India we continue to be a highly taxed sector which makes us less competitive as compared to other destinations,” said <keyword id="4127681" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="kapil-goswamy">Kapil Goswamy</keyword>, CEO and Managing Director, <keyword id="4127680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bigbreaks">BigBreaks</keyword>.com <br />
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<strong>Silver lining</strong><br />
However he added that the announcement to improve road infrastructure also has latent benefits for the tourism sector as it encourages travelling.<br />
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Apart from that, there are some silver linings in the industry, though.<br />
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“The 5% tax cuts proposed for MSMEs is one welcome step in this direction. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">Speeding up of infrastructure development </a>for airlines, rail &amp; highways will also help to boost more inter-state business activity,”said Adarsh Manpuria, Co-Founder , FabHotels.<br />
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<strong>Cash less travel</strong><br /> <keyword id="265813" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vikram-Ahuja">Vikram Ahuja</keyword> of Byond Travel, a boutique travel start up feels, “Focus on digital payments and encouraging online payments (Via BHIM and other initiatives) is a huge plus for a tech-first company like ours. Also the cap on cash deposits hopefully creates more transparency in the way travel services and packages are offered since the scope for inbuilt “cash-led” services will hopefully reduce.”<br />
<br />
<strong> Better railways and broadband</strong><br />
“The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">announcement for increase in railway connectivity </a>to the remote areas and upgradation of airports in Tier 2 cities, a huge number of people will be able to travel smoothly from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The high speed internet connectivity in rural areas will be the biggest advantage to them. This will help them to do more purchasing and online bookings. We are expecting more travel coming ahead. Along with this, reducing the income tax to 5% for the people having an earning bracket of 2.5 lac -5 lacs, it will be a crucial factor in their saving. This will increase their budget to travel and will also motivate youngster and young entrepreneurs to pay taxes, " said Gursahib Singh Sethi, Co-Founder, Travkart.com. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/budget/common-man-budget">ALSO READ: CAN YOU OWN A CAR AFTER THIS BUDGET?</a>

Budget 2017 didn’t promote much
of tourism in India. Here’s why

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Oceans Beyond Piracy</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The pirates were finally ready to make a deal.</p><p>After holding 26 sailors from the Naham 3 hostage for nearly five years, the Somali criminals agreed in August to hand them over to charity Oceans Byond Piracy (OBC) in exchange for relatively small compensation. As a first step, they sent the photo above, which shows each hostage holding up a specified code word. As a second step, they signed a contract.</p><p>"We got a final proof of life to prove that the crew were alive ... then we basically issued them a contract," said John Steed, <span>who heads the Hostage Support Partners program for OBP.</span></p><p><span><a href="http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/somali-pirates-release-crew-fv-naham-3">On October 22</a>, all 26 hostages were released, ending the second-longest captivity ever by Somali pirates.</span></p><p>Steed walked us through the harrowing story of the Naham 3 and the tense process that led to their release.</p><p>"We've basically pulled off something that a special forces from a government would be pretty proud of doing," he said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ben Lawellin, Oceans Beyond Piracy</span></p><p class="caption">The Naham 3 hostages prepare to leave Somalia.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Somali pirates held more than 700 hostages back in 2011, during a period when they dramatically disrupted global shipping. Back then, hostage-taking was a steady source of income for local pirates.</p><p>"The insurance and shipping industry were quite capable of looking after their seafarers and their ships, paying huge ransoms funded by the insurance and based on the value of the ship and the cargo and the crew, and everybody was happy," Steed said.</p><p>But some ransoms weren't paid.</p><p>"Where it didn't work was where the ship got wrecked or for some reason the crew got taken ashore," Steed said. "Suddenly, you've got no asset of any value, you've got no insurance, and these poor bloody crewmen are stuck in Somalia, and the pirates are thinking they're just kidnap victims, somebody's going to pay a ransom on them as well, and that's what they held out for."</p><p>The Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned fishing vessel with a crew of 29, was hijacked south of the Seychelles in March 2012. The boat's captain, Chung Hui-teh, reportedly <a href="http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201610260019.aspx"><span>tried to fight off pirates with a chair</span></a> but was gunned down.</p><p>The rest of the crew, who came from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam were held aboard the damaged ship, which was tied to another hijacked and damaged ship, the Albedo. When the Albedo sank, the crew of the Naham 3 <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/20/escape-or-die"><span>helped save some of the other hostages</span></a> from drowning.</p><p>In August 2013, the pirates abandoned the Naham 3 and moved the crew to a holding spot on land. At some point, two more hostages died from illness.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>EU Naval Force</span></p><p class="caption">The pirates appeared to transfer hostages from the Naham 3 to land in this 2013 EU Naval Force image.</p></div><p></p></div></div>By then, there was little hope that the ship owner-who in fact couldn't be found-or insurance would pay for the hostages.</p><p>OBP has freed hostages in similar situations, including 14 sailors from the MV Albedo in 2014 and four from the Prantalay 12 in 2015. But the pirates holding the crew of the Naham 3 were "expecting some grand payout," Steed said.</p><p>Steed, a retired British colonel, started working with a negotiator for the pirates about three years ago. During this time, he convinced them to let a doctor visit the hostages. He also started working with "tribal elders, religious leaders, the local community, and the regional government" to pressure the pirates to take a deal.</p><p>In an <a href="http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Jaber%20Escape.pdf"><span>August 2015 statement</span></a>, Steed said "negotiations have stalled due to unreasonable demands made by the pirates."</p><p>By August 2016, however, the pirates appeared to be open to negotiations. They provided proof of life for the hostages and then they signed a contract. </p><p>"We basically issued them a contract, and the pirate leaders signed," Steed said. "It was witnessed by one hostage from each country, it was witnessed by the religious leaders, and so on. Though it obviously was not a binding contract, it does tie everybody into the deal and makes them, in our view, behave honorably."</p><p>Steed himself wasn't at the contract signing. In fact, he never met the pirates.</p><p>"I communicated with the pirates on many occasions but not face to face," Steed said. "They wouldn't come anywhere near us."</p><p>After the deal was signed came a tense few weeks of arranging the handoff and worrying about complications.</p><p>"That's the most nerve-racking part, because you're almost there, you're nearly there, but you're not sure if something will go wrong at the last minute," Steed said.</p><p>The pirates agreed to transfer the hostages at an airport in the contested city of Galkayo, where heavy fighting was going on between the regional states of Puntland and Galmadug.</p><p>"It was quite a risky operation even to go there and get them, but we did it," Steed said. "We used a UN aircraft and flew into Galkayo South, which is not somewhere normally the UN would fly to."</p><p>"Also, this is Somalia: anybody could have raided the airstrip," Steed added. "It doesn't have any wire, it doesn't have any defenses. It is just an airstrip in the middle of nowhere."</p><p>When Steed and his team arrived, they were met by a community leader, a sheikh, and the chief of police, who led them to a small building at the edge of the airstrip. All 26 hostages were safely inside.</p><p>"It was a pretty emotional meeting," Steed said. "It made me cry. I don't cry easily."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ben Lawellin, Oceans Beyond Piracy</span></p><p class="caption">John Steed of Oceans Beyond Piracy meets the hostages from the Naham 3.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Steed describes a joyful plane ride out of the country: "There were lots of smiles, but the biggest cheer we got was when the pilots announced that we were leaving Somalia and entering Kenya."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ben Lawellin, Oceans Beyond Piracy</span></p><p class="caption">The Naham 3 crew fly out of Somalia.</p></div><p></p></div></div>And then a whirlwind of activity. After Wajir, the group flew to Nairobi, where they were met by ambassadors representing some of the crew and a bunch of journalists, who were alerted to the news after a leak on Twitter.</p><p>"The Chinese crew were taken away by the Chinese government right away," Steed said. Other freed hostages returned to their home countries in the next few days.</p><p>Stories about how they had suffered during imprisonment started trickling out. There were "mock executions, beatings, various forms of torture, and mistreatment," Steed said. Hostages said they were given little food and had to eat rats and bugs to survive.</p><p>A medical examiner diagnosed one of the hostages with diabetes, said one had had a stroke and that two had stomach problems. Even so, "the doctor said they were pretty good, not bad for people who had been in captivity for four and a half years," Steed said.</p><p>Some of the hostages might suffer post traumatic stress disorder.</p><p>"This affects people in different ways. Some people cope, some people don't cope," Steed said. "When we brought out the crew of Prantalay 12 … three were actually perfectly OK and one's mind had gone completely. I understand he still hasn't really recovered."</p><p>Somali pirates still hold at least 15 hostages: ten sailors from an Iranian fishing vessel, the Sirage, and 5 kidnap victims, who are being held by pirates. Steed is careful to avoid any comments or actions that might jeopardize negotiations for them.</p><p>"I've got another 20 odd hostages, so the pirates need to trust me that I'm not going to double cross them," he said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia#/media/File:Somalian_Piracy_Threat_Map_2010.png">Planemad on Wiki</a></span></p><p class="caption">Piracy surged off the Somali coast from 2005 to 2011.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Somali pirate attacks have declined drastically in recent years, from <a href="http://eunavfor.eu/key-facts-and-figures/"><span>176 major attacks in 2011</span></a> to only <a href="http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/reports/sop2015/east-africa"><span>a dozen or so smaller incidents in 2015</span></a>. This shift is credited to the rise of foreign naval patrols in the area as well as the adoption of recommendations in the shipping industry to move faster, follow certain routes, and post armed guards when passing through dangerous areas.</p><p>In the past year, however, experts have warned that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/piracy-somalia-could-come-back-2016-10"><span>waning precautions and political factors in Somalia</span></a> could lead to a resurgence of piracy.</p><p>"If the navies start to go away because of the refugee crisis or boredom … or if the ships started going slowly or cutting in close to the shore in order to get to Mombasa more quickly, then these guys could easily have another go," Steed said. "They haven't gone away."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-explains-how-get-better-every-day-david-goggins-2016-10">A Navy SEAL told us why we should 'do something that sucks' every day</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tzbTNnMTE65aFtqcUqL2H2E1tRBCPSq8" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "Byond" and got 4 results

A self drive trip to the Dead Sea or a yoga trip to the Himalayas: this Bengaluru start up is offering such experiential trips

Suchayan Mandal

Top Republican senator tweets at Trump to say his tax cut won't be the 'largest in history of country'

Allan Smith

Budget 2017 didn’t promote much of tourism in India. Here’s why

Suchayan Mandal

'It made me cry. I don't cry easily': Inside the mission to free 26 hostages after 5 years in Somalia

Gus Lubin

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