Digital
Booking.com reveals top Republic Day weekend getaways
Mumbai: With Republic Day around the corner, Indians are making the most of this three-day extended weekend to plan their getaways as they hit the roads and the skies. Booking.com share insights into the preferred travel destinations for Indian travellers this Republic Day.
Some of the popular destinations for the long weekend include beach destinations like Puducherry, Goa and Alibaug and leisure hotspots like Jaipur, Udaipur, Mahabaleshwar, Ooty and Lonavala, within convenient proximity to major cities. As per Booking.com’s search data, travellers are also searching for closer-to-home international hotspots such as Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.
Commenting on the same, Booking.com country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia Santosh Kumar said, “2024 has many long weekends presenting a significant opportunity for the travel and hospitality industry to cater to the growing traveller demand and capitalising on this trend. The upcoming Republic Day falling on a Friday this year, has ignited a search in travel demand as Indians eagerly plan to make the most of the long weekend. We are seeing demand come in from couples followed by groups and families. In addition to hotels and resorts, we are seeing Indians opting for alternative accommodations such as homestays, guest houses, apartments and villas for their stay. With travellers indulging in short breaks, exploring destinations near and far, Booking.com is committed to enhancing the traveller experience and making it easier for everyone to experience the world.”
Top searched destinations by Indians travelling domestically for the long weekend (January 26 to January 28, 2024)
Puducherry
Mumbai
Jaipur
Udaipur
Mahabaleshwar
Bengaluru
Ooty
Lonavala
Goa
Alibaug
Top searched international destinations by Indians travelling for the long weekend (January 26 to January 28, 2024)
Dubai
Singapore
Bangkok
Paris
Phuket
London
Hanoi
Kuala Lumpur
Ho Chi Minh City
Tokyo
Top searched accommodation types by Indian travellers travelling within India for the long weekend (26 January to 28 January 2024)
Hotel
Resort
Homestay
Guest House
Apartment
Indian Traveller Demographic travelling for the long weekend (26 January to 28 January 2024)
Couple
Group
Family
Solo
Methodology
The data scientists at Booking looked at the most popular destinations in India and Globally, accommodations searched in India and the travel demographics based on booking data by Indian travellers for search sessions between 15-12-2023 and 15-01-2024 and check-in dates between 2024-01-26 and 2024-01-28.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
