Adventure Tourism: Too Many Loose Ends

Anindita Chattopadhyay - New Delhi

Suddenly, adventure tourism has become the buzzword in the travel industry. Every state tourism board is busy identifying products to promote this niche segment. It is not only the Himalayan states that are targeting adventure sports, but even a state like Delhi has appointed an official to develop adventure sports as an added attraction to its offering of history, culture and architecture. The growing popularity of the segment is evident from the fact that the third convention held by Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) in New Delhi on November 16 and 17 witnessed a good attendance from both industry and media. Inaugurated by Renuka Chowdhury, minister for tourism, government of India, the business sessions at the seminar offered an insight into the priorities and problems of the sector with secretaries from the tourism and home ministry and veteran adventure tour operators taking part in the panel discussion. But the most pertinent question of the hour was `Is the adventure tourism sector in India ready for a take off?’

Reality check

Adventure tourism started gaining popularity in India in the last seven years. Statistics from Jungle Lodges and Resorts Ltd, a government of Karnataka undertaking, reveal that the ratio of foreigners and Indian adventure tourists received by them is now 25 is to 75 compared to 60 is to 40 five years ago. It is not that number of foreigners decreased, but the number of domestic tourists increased at a much faster pace. "The phenomenal increase in domestic tourists outnumbered foreign tourists, although their number doubled," pointed out Vinay Luthra, managing director, Jungle Lodges. According to an Uttaranchal report, 42,000 visitors visited Gangotri glacier last year.

Trekking, angling, rafting and jeep safari have now become the in-things. So much so that Resorts Condominium of India (RCI) is desperately scouting for resorts in north east and hill states to meet the demand for activity-oriented holidaying from its time-share customers.

However, the make-hay-while-the-sun-shines attitude of certain tour operators can take a heavy toll on the fragile environment. With increase in tourists, conservation and waste disposal are becoming crucial concerns, but there is no mechanism to regulate numbers. It is surprising but true that the tourism ministry does not have a record of the number of adventure tourists India is getting.

Since adventure sport is already an established tourism product worldwide, maintaining global standards in product quality as well as service standards is essential to develop sustainable advantages. In India, not only does this high-risk segment leave much to be desired in terms of technical and safety standards, but there is also a definitional problem requiring a study on the conceptual framework.

Sample These

There is a dichotomy between state and central government approval standards for adventure service providers. In fact, state government approval standards are quite diluted, say ATOAI members, leading to mushrooming of adventure tour operators not properly equipped to service the niche segment. There are over 500 operators in the country, but only 130 are members of the ATOAI.

Absence of certification courses for instructors and guides leads to a scarcity of properly trained manpower. Trained mountaineering and trekking instructors may be available, but certified trip guides and instructors for river rafting, skiing, or paragliding are rare species in India. "By and large it is on the job training as far as rafting, skiing, paragliding are concerned. For mountaineering The Nehru Institute Of Mountaineering Uttarkashi offers an instructor's course," informed Ajeet Bajaj, president ATOAI.

At times guides do not carry proper communication gadgets with them resulting in tourists losing their way.

"India is on a growth plateau, any lapses can actually be a deterrent," pointed out Ashish Gupta, senior associate, Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst &Young. And he is right. Recently a British tourist got lost in Himachal Pradesh, a state that gives adventure tourism high priority. As a repercussion, the state saw 20 cancellations for its paragliding event.

It is not that the adventure tour operators are unaware of the challenges ahead to make India an adventure tourism hotspot. Bajaj candidly admits that lapses occur, but attributes it to absence of a national policy on adventure tourism and some weird prohibitions. "It is important that we have a national policy on adventure tourism. As tourism is a state subject, it is imperative that there is greater synergy between the centre and state and we come up with a uniform code of conduct for safety and eco tourism," said he. According to him some of the problems faced by adventure tour operators today are:

• Operators are not allowed to use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and satellite phones, which would actually help in running safer expeditions and facilitate rescues and evacuations.
• Though import of excellent equipment is imperative for safety, 40 per cent import duty on adventure equipment is quite a burden.
• A lot of red tapism exists in organising a climbing expedition in India and the government needs to simplify the procedure. Further, there is need to open up more trek peaks. Currently only four are open.
• Lack of well researched material on climbing and river expeditions and contour maps of relevant areas are a definite negative when trying to attract adventure expeditions from overseas.
• There is no proper certification and monitoring system.

Future Take

There are no two opinions that government can only be a facilitator in promoting adventure tourism. It is the stakeholders who have to take a proactive stance, get their destination partners involved and together formulate regulations needed for the enhancement of the sector.

Now that India has started getting the numbers and the domestic market is also maturing, strategies vis a vis product development, product positioning, product differentiation and marketing need to be planned.

No doubt, the sector is under-researched. There is neither efforts for market segmentation, nor customised product development. Surprisingly, nobody cares to know what the growing domestic market wants; whether Indians are ready for bungee jumping or mountain biking; how can India differentiate its adventure products from other countries; or how can we offer a total visitor experience?

When asked what needs to be done Gupta gave his view candidly. "The tour operators must get together, determine a vision for adventure tourism and prepare a comprehensive growth strategy based on proper research. Customer motivation and expectation need to be mapped. They must identify the source markets and their needs, customise the product, work out a price-value equation based on market requirement and develop a marketing communication strategy. The government must facilitate market development and product promotion. However, the most critical factor is technical and safety standards. The government ought to be proactive in setting up stringent service and technical standards (for equipment services) and start certification courses for tour operators, equipment providers, instructors and guides," he proffered.

It is heartening to note that the union ministry of tourism has already taken a step towards this end. The ministry is preparing guidelines for adventure activities to regulate the sector, which will be distributed to tour operators and state tourism boards soon. The ministry has also taken up opening up of the Kanchanjunga peak from the Indian side for scaling and trekking to promote adventure tourism. So far, the peak could be scaled from Nepal side only. Well, if stakeholders, destination partners and government join hands together to tie the loose ends, then there can be no stopping for sure.

Blurb:

The tour operators must determine a vision for adventure tourism and prepare a comprehensive growth strategy based on proper research. Customer motivation and expectation need to be mapped. They must identify the source markets and their needs, customize the product, work out a price-value equation based on market requirement and develop a marketing communication strategy.