Sania Mirza expresses her love for travel in Booking.com’s Booking Explorers campaign
Booking.com has recently announced Grand Slam Champion Sania Mirza as its India Explorer, as a part of the Booking Explorers campaign that celebrates the spirit of travel through the lens of renowned adventures, leaders and trailblazers across Asia Pacific.
Expressing her delight on partnering with Booking.com for the campaign, Mirza Mirza took to Instagram to take her fans through her travel journey, right from the age of 8 when she first travelled to a different city for a tennis tournament, to now when her son keeps her company as she travels the world representing India.
Keeping the spirit of travel alive, Mirza expressed her love for travel, how it has shaped her as a person and how the pandemic made her realise that she is guilty of taking travel for granted.
Mirza said: “There are many things that are different because of the pandemic and I really hope it comes back to ‘I want to fly somewhere. If I have a visa I can go.’”
Hailing from Hyderabad, Mirza is well travelled, both domestically and internationally. Talking about how she has explored India, she added, “I’ve been to all the bigger cities but it would be really nice to discover the interiors of India a little bit more because the culture is so different,” and when travel comes back in full swing, she would like to tick off Bora Bora in French Polynesia from her bucket list.
Mirza said: “I am thrilled to come onboard as an explorer for Booking.com’s Explorers campaign, through which I got to reminisce my travel memories. Travel has shaped me into the person that I am and I would love for travel to be a big part of my son’s life as well; so he understands all the cultures of India and the wider world. When I stop playing tennis, I would like to take the time to travel as a tourist and visit the same places that I’ve been to for tournaments. It would be great to savor and enjoy it differently.”
Ritu Mehrotra, Regional Manager, South Asia at Booking.com, said: “Sania’s travel story is very inspirational and it’s heartening to witness the transformational role travel has played, right from the formative years of her life to today, as she continues to make India proud. The time spent at home over the past one and a half years has made us realise our love for travel has never waned. With travel gradually resuming, we hope that Sania’s story will encourage travellers to broaden their horizons on how we can still experience our world responsibly, when it’s safe to do so.”
The Booking Explorers campaign also showcases stories of Amazing Race Australia winners, Tim and Rod, who have travelled the world proudly representing the freedom to love and who advocate making travel more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community. Upcoming explorers and their stories will include Korean alternative pop band, Leenalchi, who connect people through the power of their music, travelling the world to find inspiration for new songs and interacting with global fans. Rising style icon and global fashion model, Chau Bui, calls Vietnam home but has travelled from Seoul to Paris, New York and Milan to find inspiration for her unique style. In Paris, famed Japanese illustrator Kaori Watanabe expanded her mental horizons through travel and used this new perspective to create art that transports us to faraway lands.
