From Starting at 18 to Building a Hospitality Group: The ExploreWings Story

At an age when most young people are still deciding what they want to do in the future, Joel Saju and Akash V were already taking their first steps into entrepreneurship. At just 18, the two young entrepreneurs entered the travel, tourism and digital marketing space with a small dream, limited resources and a willingness to learn.

More than a decade later, that early decision has grown into ExploreWings Hospitality, a Kerala-based hospitality and tourism group with its own resort properties and marketing partnerships across the state.

The journey of ExploreWings Kerala is less about overnight success and more about what can happen when young entrepreneurs remain consistent while learning from the industry around them.

Learning Business by Doing It

Joel Saju and Akash V did not begin their entrepreneurial journey with years of hospitality experience behind them. They learned by participating directly in the industry, understanding customers, working with businesses and discovering the challenges that come with building a company.

The early stage involved taking risks and making decisions with limited resources. Every project became an opportunity to understand the market better. Customer expectations, sales, digital visibility and business relationships all became part of their learning process.

Over time, these experiences helped the founders identify an opportunity within Kerala's expanding tourism and hospitality sector.

Rather than limiting their work to one area, they gradually developed expertise across hospitality marketing, sales, digital marketing, resort management and brand building.

Growing with Kerala's Tourism Industry

Today, ExploreWings Hospitality has a presence in Trivandrum, Kochi, Munnar and Wayanad, giving the company exposure to several important tourism markets in Kerala.

The company currently has 12+ own resort properties across Kerala and also works with 30+ resorts and properties for marketing.

This combination of ownership and service has played an important role in shaping the company's approach.

ExploreWings is not simply a resort marketing company in Kerala working from an agency perspective. Its involvement in its own hospitality properties gives the team practical exposure to the everyday realities of running resorts.

Understanding the Challenges Behind a Resort

A successful resort requires much more than an attractive location. Property owners have to think about visibility, enquiries, bookings, customer experience, sales and long-term brand development.

Because ExploreWings operates its own properties, these challenges are not theoretical for the company.

This operational experience helps the team understand why a resort may struggle to generate enquiries, why online visibility matters and how branding can influence customer decisions.

It also allows ExploreWings to approach resort marketing with a broader perspective. Instead of viewing marketing as an isolated activity, the company works around areas such as digital promotion, enquiries, bookings, sales and business growth.

Where Hospitality Meets Digital Marketing

The way travellers discover hotels and resorts has changed significantly. Online searches, social media, websites and digital recommendations now influence many travel decisions.

This has created a growing need for specialised hospitality marketing in Kerala.

ExploreWings works across hotel digital marketing, tourism marketing and hotel marketing, helping properties strengthen their digital presence and communicate their offerings to potential guests.

The company's experience in both hospitality operations and marketing allows it to look at digital growth from the perspective of actual business requirements.

A Bigger Vision Ahead

The story of ExploreWings Hospitality is ultimately the story of two young entrepreneurs who started early and learned through experience.

From taking their first entrepreneurial steps at 18 to building a hospitality group with 12+ own properties and marketing partnerships with 30+ properties, Joel Saju and Akash V have gradually expanded their vision.

Their journey demonstrates the importance of consistency, adaptability and the willingness to learn from challenges.

With its presence across Kerala's tourism destinations and its growing involvement in resort operations and marketing, ExploreWings is working toward a larger hospitality ecosystem.

For Joel Saju and Akash V, however, the journey is far from complete. What began as a small dream at 18 has developed into a growing hospitality venture, with a much larger vision still ahead.

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Website : https://explorewings.com/