Environment ban hurting adventure tourism
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban on camping activity from Kaudiyala to Rishikesh, in Uttarakhand, has left tour operators of the region looking for alternative products. The industry shares its effect on tourist arrivals to the region.
Responding to the NGT ban on camping sites in Rishikesh, Tejbir Singh Anand, Founder and Managing Director, Holiday Moods Adventures, says, "The ban has affected the number of tourist coming to Rishikesh. The dip could be as alarming as 3040 per cent loss of business. Few local companies also have shut shop. With no beach campsites available, the accommodation has been restricted to hotels and lodges."
Sanjay Basu, MD, Far Horizon Tours, calls the ban a typical uninformed and knee-jerk reaction and says, "Instead of banning irresponsible defaulters who were polluting the environment, a blanket ban has been imposed on all the camps. As long as the operators are responsible, such eco-tourism activities must be allowed to enrich the economic activity of these remote areas. Ecotourism creates a fine balance between environment protection and environment usage and must be encouraged all over the country rather than be opposed.” Anand, however reflects on the inevitability of the ban and says, "The ban was bound to happen sooner or later. Unchecked growth, without taking into account the carrying capacities, and construction has led to this sad situation."
Explaining the challenges being faced by service providers in growing this segment, Basu says, "Adventure tourism is in a very nascent stage. It has not reached its full potential due to lack of accessibility into the remote regions of the country and permissions to create low impact ecotourism infrastructures. The publicity is only through travel agents and word-of-mouth."
Vinayak Koul, Director, SnowLion Expeditions, says, "The local authorities and the tourism board must help tour operators to promote and market the region rigorously to beat down the ban and spread awareness that rafting and other activities can still be done in and around Rishikesh."
Discussing how travel agents are tackling the ban, Anand says, “Agents are changing programmes now amending the accommodations available and focusing more on activities. Technology is being used and activities are being sold more on e-commerce sites and mobile apps. Both offline and online models are being promoted by travel agents. New adventure zones have come up offering activities like bungee jumping, zip lining, cycling trails, etc. New campsites are coming up on private lands away from the river."
Talking about the popular source markets, Anand says, "In terms of domestic market, the major sources are the corporate houses and organisations. MICE and educational institutions have boosted adventure tourism in the last decade."
Identifying the trends for adventure tourism in 2016, Anand explains, "The corporate adventure offsites are one of the largest client segment of adventure campsites and this trend should continue to grow for the next few years. The number of travellers aged 1535 has increased by 42 per cent compared to last year and over 54 per cent of adventure tour bookings are made online. Multi- activity trips, which all age brackets can do, are new entrants into this segment. In fact more than 25 per cent of adventure travellers are women mostly of the age group 35-60 years."