Last weekend, Indian social media exploded with much hilarity and embarrassment over a video of a family of tourists in Bali. The video that went viral showed the staff of a resort in the Indonesian destination pull out a gamut of sundry properties—soap dispensers, hangers, ceramic containers, and minor electrical appliances—belonging to the facility from the tourists’ luggage as they prepared to vacate.
Such was the mirth this episode generated that some even tagged Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, seeking a different kind of Swachh Bharat (Clean India).
Now, online travel portal ixigo has sought to ride the mood. It has created a short tongue-in-cheek video crash course for Indians about what one can and cannot flick from hotels.
Travel hungry
Indians love their budget travel deals: economic package tours, inexpensive flight tickets, visa-free destinations, and other perks. The family visiting Bali demonstrated that the list of “perks” could be long.
In any case, this is not a first. In January 2018, senior journalists accompanying Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the eastern state of West Bengal, were accused of stealing silverware from a hotel in London. They were later fined £50 (Rs4,250).
Given that by 2020, 50 million Indians will travel abroad on vacation, ixigo’s nifty guide may be timely.