How Waari is redefining experiential travel through local iammersion and global
Waari: Where travel becomes meaningful
Last Updated: Jan 29, 2026, 19:19 IST5 min
Prefer us on Google
Advertisement
As experiential travel moves from a niche preference to a mainstream expectation among global travellers, Indian travel brand Waari is positioning itself at the intersection of local immersion and global service standards, redefining how culturally rooted tourism can be scaled responsibly.
Founded with the intent to move beyond transactional travel, Waari’s approach is built on depth, authenticity, and long-term community engagement. As the company puts it, “Waari was born from a simple realisation that travel had become too transactional. We wanted to slow it down, humanise it, and create journeys with meaning, depth, and human connection.”
From Railways to Responsible Travel
Waari traces its origins to founder Maruti Musmade, whose relationship with travel began over four decades ago. His journey started in 1983 with the Indian Railways, where extensive exposure to people, cultures, and landscapes shaped a lasting insight: meaningful travel is defined by human connection, not checklists.
That philosophy eventually evolved into Waari, a brand built around transparency, innovation, responsibility, and a customer-first mindset. Rather than offering standardised tour packages, Waari curates journeys with intent, each itinerary anchored by a Waari Signature Experience™, designed to reflect the soul of the destination while maintaining international service benchmarks.
“We don’t sell packages, we craft stories people carry home,” the leadership emphasises.
Local Immersion as an Economic Model
Waari’s differentiation lies in its consistent integration of local culture, people, and livelihoods into every itinerary it curates, ensuring that each journey, across geographies, is rooted in authentic, on-ground experiences rather than surface-level sightseeing. This approach is most visibly reflected in destinations such as Kerala, where Waari works closely with local communities to design immersive experiences that allow travelers to engage directly with traditional lifestyles, crafts, and everyday practices, while ensuring tourism revenue flows back into the local economy.
The company collaborates with tourism bodies, local institutions, and community stakeholders across domestic and international destinations to promote responsible tourism practices, embedding community-led experiences directly into its travel programs.
One such initiative is Waari’s half-day village immersion in Kerala, conducted entirely by local residents. Travelers participate in toddy tapping, coir making, leaf weaving, traditional cooking, and backwater life, ensuring tourism income flows directly into the local economy.
According to Mr. Rupesh Kumar, CEO, Responsible Tourism Mission, Government of Kerala, “Responsible Tourism is about ensuring tourism benefits reach the grassroots. When companies like Waari integrate community-led activities such as toddy tapping, coir making, and village life experiences, they create economic dignity for local families while preserving cultural heritage. Waari, along with Rishikesh and Gayatri, has played a meaningful role in promoting these initiatives responsibly, by respecting local systems, educating travelers, and ensuring that tourism income flows directly back into the community.”
This approach positions Waari’s tourism model as a form of indirect CSR, where community engagement and cultural preservation are built into the business itself rather than treated as add-ons. By embedding local artisans, hosts, and micro-entrepreneurs into its travel experiences, Waari ensures that economic value is distributed at the grassroots level, creating sustainable income streams while preserving regional identity. The impact is structural rather than symbolic; tourism becomes a tool for long-term economic participation, not short-term consumption.
A Framework-Driven Approach to Experience Design
Behind Waari’s curated journeys is a structured five-step curation framework that combines research, verification, creativity, and operational discipline.
The process begins with deep destination research, which the company calls “becoming travel scholars”, followed by on-ground verification of hotels, routes, and experiences. It then moves into creative itinerary crafting, direct negotiations with partners (eliminating middlemen), and thoughtful matching of like-minded travelers, especially for group journeys.
This framework allows Waari to balance comfort, pacing, and cultural depth, an approach that resonates with its core traveler base: discerning professionals, entrepreneurs, senior travelers, and families, typically aged 35 and above, who prioritize peace of mind and meaningful engagement over rushed sightseeing.
Balancing Indian Sensibilities with Global Standards
Waari operates across the Indian Subcontinent and key global destinations spanning Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. Its global expansion is guided not by popularity metrics, but by cultural richness and experiential depth.
Consistency across geographies is maintained through strict partner vetting, trained tour managers, standardized service manuals, and continuous feedback loops, ensuring Indian travelers receive familiar care and trust, paired with global benchmarks in safety, planning, and execution.
The shift is aligned with broader post-pandemic travel trends, where travelers increasingly seek purpose, wellness, and emotional renewal. Waari’s response has been to design slower, richer journeys—fewer destinations, deeper experiences.
Leadership on Responsibility and Legacy
For Waari’s leadership, travel is as much about responsibility as it is about discovery.
Founder Maruti Musmade states,
“Every traveler invests time and money to realize their dream journey. It is solely our responsibility to perfect every detail and create unforgettable experiences, ensuring every moment of your journey is worth the investment.”
Director Rishikesh Musmade adds,
“Our purpose is to connect you to our vast world. Make new friends, get inspired by the destination, its people and their stories. Escape the ordinary and embark on transformative experiences. Explore not only the world outside, but the one within you!”
Chief Executive Officer Gayatri Gawde Musmade frames the philosophy more pointedly:
“When we travel, we often think about what we’ll take back, memories, photographs, rest, and rejuvenation. But travel must also ask a deeper question, what are we giving back to the destination?
At Waari, we believe true luxury lies in giving back, through thoughtful travel that honours local cultures, supports communities, and leaves every destination richer for having hosted us.”
As experiential travel gains momentum globally, Waari’s ambition is clear; to become the first name that comes to mind when travel shifts from a logistical decision to an emotional impulse. Over the next three to five years, the company plans to scale its Signature Experiences across geographies while deepening collaborations with local curators, cultural custodians, and boutique hospitality partners worldwide.
Alongside expansion, Waari is investing in narrative-led itinerary design and on-ground partnerships that preserve authenticity at scale, ensuring that as destinations multiply, the intimacy of experience remains intact. In an industry increasingly defined by personalization and purpose, Waari is positioning itself at the intersection of emotion, culture, and thoughtfully designed travel.
The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.
First Published: Jan 29, 2026, 19:22
Subscribe Now- Home /
- Upfront /
- Brand-connect /
- How-waari-is-redefining-experiential-travel-through-local-iammersion-and-global-standards
Latest News
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement