WORLD TOURISM DAY
The Journey Begins Before You Fly
Juhi Chakraborty
This World Tourism Day, discover how Adani Airports is transforming its terminals into gateways to India’s art, culture, heritage, flavours and regional identities.
An airport is often a traveller's first encounter with a destination. Adani Airports is reimagining that encounter — not as a passage through a terminal, but as the start of the journey itself.
This World Tourism Day (27 September), the story of Adani Airports is about how gateways across India are bringing the identity of their regions into the airport experience. Through art, architecture, cuisine, craftsmanship and retail, these airports offer travellers an introduction to the places they're about to explore — or a last impression of the places they're leaving behind.
A first glimpse of Rajasthan
At Jaipur International Airport, Rajasthan reveals itself before travellers even step outside. A heritage wall at Terminal 1 draws on intricate woodwork and glasswork inspired by havelis and palaces, with arches and chhatris echoing the state's forts. At Terminal 2, blue pottery planters and curated artwork depict traditional attire and Rajasthani landscapes. The experience extends to food, with regional favourites like dal baati churma, pyaaz kachori and ghewar available across outlets — turning transit into an early encounter with the destination.
Kerala, told through art
At Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, Kerala's story unfolds through the four Art Towers at Terminal 2, themed around the state's performing arts, literature, wellness traditions and modern identity. Travellers encounter references to Theyyam, Kathakali and Oppana, alongside landmarks like the Padmanabhaswamy Temple and the artistic legacy of Raja Ravi Varma. Contemporary Kerala finds its place too, through nods to institutions like Technopark and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. Dining and retail featuring local handicrafts round out an introduction that connects tradition with a modern, evolving identity.
The spirit of Coastal Karnataka
Mangaluru International Airport introduces travellers to the culture of Tulunadu and Coastal Karnataka through Kambala-themed installations and Yakshagana-inspired mannequins, masks and headgear. Imagery of Pilivesha, fishermen on traditional nada donis, and temple architecture creates a visual narrative of the coast, while food outlets serve neer dosa, goli baje and Udupi-inspired cuisine. Set against a hilltop overlooking the Western Ghats, the airport offers a journey that begins with a strong sense of place.
Where the Northeast begins
At Guwahati's Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport, installations such as Wings of Hornbill, Chai Bagan and Mayur Dance bring together the region's biodiversity, tea culture and performing traditions. Assam's tea heritage is represented through Goodwyn Tea and an Assamese thali, alongside traditional pitha and laru. Retail spaces showcase handloom, silk weaving and bamboo craftsmanship, while native species in the Arrival Village reflect the region's ecological identity.
A gateway shaped by the lotus
At Navi Mumbai International Airport, architecture itself becomes the storyteller. Inspired by the lotus — a symbol of purity, resilience and transcendence across Indian traditions — the airport's design uses flowing forms, a central atrium and a radial layout evoking petals spreading outward. The result is a gateway with a distinctly Indian identity within a contemporary global setting, where cultural symbolism and modern design come together.
From Gujarat to the world
At Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, the Pragati-ni-Patang installation celebrates Gujarat's association with kite flying through bronze sculptures and illuminated stained-glass kites, while a mural brings Navratri and Uttarayan into the baggage claim hall. Elsewhere, a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel honours two of the state's most influential sons, and lion sculptures inspired by the Asiatic lions of Gir celebrate its pride.
When the terminal becomes a museum
At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Terminal 2 takes cultural immersion to an extraordinary scale. The ArtBeat of New India Museum stretches across a 3.2-kilometre corridor, with more than 5,500 artefacts and over 100 installations spanning 200,000 square feet — from hand-painted theatre backdrops and Kashmiri craft to Kerala murals, Naga totems and Durga Puja artistry. Here, the airport itself becomes a journey through the country's cultural imagination.
This World Tourism Day, Adani Airports offers a reminder that the journey doesn't begin when a traveller leaves the airport. Increasingly, it begins the moment they arrive.