MAHA APPROVES ADVENTURE TOURISM POLICY TO MAKE IT SAFE

MUMBAI: Maharashtra government on Wednesday approved a policy for adventure tourism to streamline adventure activities across the state. The policy was approved in the state cabinet meeting held on Wednesday and detailed guidelines will soon be issued by the tourism department.

The new policy has focused on the safety of the people and covers all tour operators that organise adventure tourism except adventure sports, performance-oriented sports, forest safari and nature trips.

The policy will establish a regulatory framework for the sector with guidelines on necessary training of personnel and equipment etc. It will make it mandatory for tour operators to register with the state tourism directorate and take all necessary precautions while organising adventure tours, officials said.

State tourism and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray said the priority of the government is to save lives of the people. “There were no rules related to adventure tourism and accidents were also happening. The policy is an attempt to streamline the activities by covering all the three mediums of adventure tourism — land, water and air. It will cover all tour operators that organise adventure tourism. It means they will have to follow all the rules while organizing adventure tourism tours for amateurs and tourists,” Thackeray said.

“The state government’s priority is to save the lives of the people. We want to encourage adventure tourism and send a message that it is safe for them. We want Maharashtra to lead in tourism once Covid pandemic is over,” he said.

The activities that fall under adventure tourism are mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, cycling, canoeing, scuba diving, rafting, kayaking, paragliding and hiking among others.