Trek along the Frozen River in Ladakh

Himalayan Voyages is proud to deliver brilliant experiences in terms of adventure tourism, handling back-to-back daily charter movement, adhoc groups, incentives or FIT customers. Stany Wangchuk, Managing Director, Wisdom – Himalayan Voyages talks to abou

The year 2014 was a great year for Ladakh, where we saw some good exponential increase in traffic. Ladakh has become the most popular destination amongst tourist destinations and in particular the domestic tourists. This year, 2015 looks quite exciting. We are bullish and geared for a good increase in traffic compared to 2014. We are also adding offbeat places in Ladakh, apart from our regular bouquet of products.

QHow

has adventure tourism developed in India?

Adventure tourism is quite niche and this segment’s demand is lower in India with slower growth compared to mainstream holidays. However, it is fast catching up and we can see some great traction in the coming years. Ladakh has numerous options for adventure activities, which is up close to nature and offers some unique adventure activities, which other destinations don’t have. We have seen a lot of demand for Chadar Trek (Frozen River Trek) and a few other adventure activities in Ladakh like motorbike safaris, cycle safaris, trekking, mountain expeditions, rafting etc.

QWhat

are the roadblocks in promoting adventure tourism in India?

The major road block is largely on marketing adventure tourism aggressively and secondly the infrastructure needs to be of International standards

QWhat

are the most famous adventure routes?

Today, Chadar trek is in great demand where we do trekking on the frozen river of Zangskar Valley. One of the most famous trekking routes is Markha Valley Trek. We have various peaks above 6,000 metres. Some of them are easily doable like Stok Kangri (6140m) and Kang Yatse trek (6400m).

Q How different are domestic tourists and foreign travellers when it comes to adventure tourism?

There is a huge difference when it comes to demand for adventure tourism from foreign travellers viz- a- viz Indian travellers. In fact foreign tourists have been more exposed to adventure tourism compared to Indian tourist. They certainly have lot of facilities and options abroad which they have been exploring regularly compared to an Indian tourist.

Q

What is your Unique Selling Point?

Our USP is that we have a very strong networking across Ladakh, even in remote villages. Also, we cater to every request. We have a team of 60 experienced professionals in our organisation who not only know every bit of Ladakh, but are well trained to cater to every need of a customer, be it domestic or foreign tourist. It’s also not about organising all arrangements but also to ensure that all customers go back with some wonderful memories and experiences.