MY STORY

Namaste Dear Travellers! Welcome to Joyful Holidays!

Every startup has a story behind it. Joyful Holidays started with my own experiences of travel throughout India.

My name is Sonia Handa, and I am a travel planner for North India.

I was born and raised in a very conservative family in Delhi. From a very young age, I had known that I was born to travel. But in India, being from a conservative family, I’d always been taught that the safest job for women in India was teaching. So, I studied “Bachelor of Education” and “Master's in English Literature”. Followed by joining a school as an English teacher, and I continued teaching for more than a year..

But during that time, I realised that something was missing in life. I was going through an emotional turmoil, feeling as if I was living someone else's life. Then, my awakening happened. At an instant, I recognised my call and I said to myself, “Sonia, ARISE! It’s time to chase your dreams”. Eventually, I left my job and travelled to the length and breadth of my beautiful country, India. One of the states that fascinated me the most was Rajasthan.

While travelling, I found my calling in a unique vocation. After a few years of completing many trips to fascinating Rajasthan, I pursued a course in Tourism Management from a reputed institute. This was because of my intense interest and passion for travel and tourism.

I believe whatever you do, do differently. With this aim to rectify issues faced by travellers and especially women travellers, I decided to start my own travel company and began my journey from scratch.

It was known to me that entrepreneurship was traditionally a male bastion and that the country wasn’t kind to women in business, but I chose to persevere. I shared the idea with my husband, and he was immediately on board to help me in my new journey.

There were many challenges in the path, including the trust of my valued guests, the stiff competition from the established players in the segment, and a struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance as a mom of 2 (or mompreneur). But my persistence and determination helped me overcome my challenges.

Soon, many women with the same passion joined me, and now, we are a team of women who believe in a bright future for women in tourism. We specialise in private luxurious tours of Rajasthan, and have a reputation for excellence. We have received many awards from TripAdvisor, and our services are truly loved by our past guests, which is genuinely revealed in the reviews that they write for us.

We are a genuinely passionate team. This will become obvious as soon as you contact us!

WE ARE ON A JOURNEY. ARE YOU WITH US?

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JOYFUL HOLIDAYS TEAM

People say, but in our case, it’s true: our team is the key to our success. Each member of our team is amazing in their own right, but together we are what makes Joyful Holidays. We’re very proud of the team we’ve built, who bend over backwards to ensure your tailor-made journey is nothing short of spectacular. – We work hard on every tour and make sure to deliver exceptional service for our valued guests.

We have a team of committed professionals who have in-depth knowledge and an unspoken passion for tourism. Our entire product is value-for-money and is backed by a professional touch. Our company is committed to safe, honourable, and sustainable tourism. We believe that our company is about building relationships. A few of our team members have a certificate or a bachelor’s degree in Travel and Tourism. We are passionate and, simultaneously, a responsible team dedicated to the growth of the travel & tourism industry globally.

SONIA HANDA

FOUNDER / TRIP DESIGNER

JULIE PHILIPS

PROJECT MANAGER / TOUR PLANNER

SHILPI KHANNA

MARKETING SPECIALIST / TOUR PLANNER

HEENA PATHANIA

LOGISTICS ADMINISTRATOR

SHWETA

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

RISHMA SAREEN

INTERN

BABITA

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

JOYFUL HOLIDAYS’ LOGO

The word ‘Joyful’ here provides true meaning to your holiday time with comfort. The colours in our logo gorgeously depict the vibrancy of the colours of the Indian sub-continent, and they assure your colourful, pleasurable tour full of good surprises. These colours are the symbol of our promise to you of a glamorous portion to make your trip full of life.

Two decorated and celebrated Elephants are symbols of royal welcome to our valued guests. In India, Elephants are considered to bring positive energies into one’s life and home. A turban is a headdress of unstitched cloth, which is wrapped around the head. The Turban is a symbol of honour and respect we give to our valued guests. It is a very common practice in India to honour guests by offering them one to wear.

So visit India with our specially crafted and designed packages for a world experience.

OUR GUIDES

We believe that Tour guides are an essential part of tourism, as they comprehend every issue from a tourist’s perspective. Our dedicated team of young, energetic, and enthusiastic guides is pledged to ensuring that our guests have a memorable tour of India. We use guides who are trained as Professional Tour Guides from the “Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (Govt. of India)” & have obtained their license from the Ministry of Tourism (Government of India) and have been recommended multiple times by our past guests.

OUR DRIVERS

Drivers play an indispensable role in tourism. They are our most visible aspect and are the prime individuals who accompany passengers on their journeys. We have a team of highly trained and experienced chauffeurs. We choose drivers who hold clean backgrounds and great recommendations/ review records and have numerous years of experience.