Another proof of India’s growing economic power is the success story of Cox & Kings. The British travel company was founded in 1758 for officers serving in India. The company will be conducting their IPO on the Bombay Stock Exchange next month. In order to make this stock offering possible the UK parent company of Cox & Kings had to be taken over by its Indian subsidiary. The company plans to raise $130 million in the IPO.

What’s even more interesting is that Cox & Kings has entered into a partnership with the state-owned Indian Railways to build a luxury Orient Express-style train. The train will travel from Mumbai and Rajasthan across to Varanasi and Kolkata. Right now India currently has only two luxury trains, and they only travel within single states.

In an article in the Telegraph, Peter Kerka, the chief executive of Cox & Kings said that while seven years ago the bulk of Cox & Kings’ UK business involved shipping passengers from Britain to India. Today more Indian families are taking vacations all over their country. The company plans to increase its travel franchises in India from 15 to 300 by the end of 2008.

Samsonite presents two new luggage collections for the frequent business traveler – the Solana and Hommage 2

The Solana line is designed to pack everything you would need or could possibly think of for your trip in a neat and organized fashion. It comes with a toiletry kit, wet pocket or removable suit sleeve. There’s even a 5 cm expandability for that extra packing space.

The Hommage 2 collection is an extended line of chi-chi luggage from the Hommage collection, and is only available this summer. With its nappa leather trimmings and lighter tones of almond ecru, sun olive, chocolate and charcoal black, the Hommage 2 collection exudes beauty and timeless elegance. The collection consists of duffles, spinners, shoulder bag, rolling tote, beauty case, toilet kit, lady bag and messenger bag.

Who says the word ‘dream’ only belongs to the dictionary of fools? Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group of companies, visualized a far-fetched dream of space tourism years back, which now with dynamic support of designer Burt Rutan and financier Paul Allen is on the verge of become a reality.

A space-marvel, SpaceShipTwo, will not only open new dimensions for tourism industry but also set new standards for space research and aeronautical engineering. ‘SpaceShipTwo’ won’t take off like other spacecrafts from the ground, however, it’ll initially be lifted by the ‘White Knight Two’ (a carrier plane) to an altitude of 50,000 feet to continue the space voyage on its own.

SpaceShipTwo, an enhanced version of the X-Prize-winning ‘SpaceShipOne’ concept, will only carry eight people, including two pilots and six passengers, in a single voyage into sub-orbit. While the White Knight Two is all set to kick off, whereas, SpaceShipTwo is about 60% complete and will be ready for test flights, which are scheduled to commence in the later half of this year. Space travel by any means is not an ordinary expedition, neither is $200,000 ticket price that the unique tourists will have to pay for the lavish trip.