industry forum state governments and associations must collaborate to enforce standards, says mandip soin mandip singh soin, founder and managing director, ibex expeditions provided a detailed account of the advent of adventure tourism in the country, pressing for more synergy among associations and state governments in enforcing guidelines. he mentioned that it was the industry’s duty to educate customers about the perils of not asking the right questions before undertaking an adventure trip. excerpts: a look at how adventure tourism unfolded tracing the genesis of adventure tourism in the country, at the beginning of the 1970s, mandip singh soin shared that “the lack of appreciation for the concept of adventure tourism” in the domestic tourism industry was an issue faced by the adven- ture segment stakeholders. the apathy for adven- ture tourism was the reason behind “the struggle in gaining potential travelers” to india, he stressed. he noted that the traction for adventure ac- tivities, initially, remained restricted to inbound foreign travelers, as they not only “had the means but also the interest in a wide variety of outdoor activities, be it mountaineering expeditions or trekking in the himalayas.” “they would literally travel halfway around the world to make their dreams come true,” he said. this development, over time, led to the creation of adventure tourism destinations, bridging the gap of lack of tourism in the summer and to the himalayas,” mandip soin detailed. “it gave india the benefit of becom- ing a real year-round tourism destination which had been traditionally cultural tourism-oriented, restricted to an october to march cycle,” he said. what followed was an increased government participation as it began allocating more resources for promoting adventure tourism, he outlined. “the trickle-down effect of tourism dollars to remote himalayan communities was appreci- ated as a poverty alleviator and an employment generator,” he said. add to that, the growth of the domestic economy and increased appetite for adventure tourism among domestic tourists, cre- ated favorable conditions, pushing the “adventure travel scene to a crescendo by the last decade.” state governments must take a lead speaking on the over-exposure and resultant diktats by the judiciary on restricted access to venues for adventure tourism, most recently in the case of the ban imposed by the hon’ble uttarakhand high court on river rafting and others, he batted for a “middle-path” and sug- gested that the answer lied in “the in-between.” “it lies in the grey, between government apathy and industry inaction. even though adventure tourism was an employment generator, the state government failed to realize the importance of not doling out licenses to operate adventure sports and travel outfits in the mistaken belief that they were actually helping the local people by creating more jobs,” he insinuated. he bemoaned that despite the adventure tour operator guidelines for recognized adven- ture operators being put in place by the mot, over a decade ago, state governments, “interest- ingly, never really followed them.” he mentioned that the lack of adherence to laid norms led to mushrooming of numerous incompetent and ir- responsible people, “who took on to river-rafting operations very casually, not even following basic it is imperative that associations and state governments understand the need to collaborate with each other, especially with key players like atoai, the ecotourism society of india, and local tour operator associations at the state level, and come up with both safety and eco- guidelines as each can be a snag to the healthy growth of adventure travel in the country. guidelines.” he attributed it to rampant cost-cut- ting. “they created a price-war due to, literally, hundreds of river camps coming up which the state government, of course, did not put a cap on and the industry, too, did not react collectively to address the issue, with neither government nor the ministry of tourism,” he explained in detail. citing the example of “superb wildlife lodges around jim corbett national park, kanha ti- ger reserve, and bandhavgarh national park”, he blamed the absence of a land-use policy by the government in the mushrooming of lodges, hotels, and resorts around national parks and sanctuaries, far outstripping the carrying capac- ity of the national park. he added that local ho- tels resorted to conferencing and parties to fill up hotels with the wrong kind of guests “who often destination india ◆ july 2018 34 mandip singh soin founder and md, ibex expeditions put pressure for disco nights, leading to noise pollution”. “even then, the hon’ble supreme court, in reaction to a pil, banned tiger tour- ism and that was lifted soon as the answer lay in conducting tourism in nature, responsibly, rather than enforcing bans,” he accentuated. industry must educate the consumer mandip soin lamented that the industry, too, had played a part in leaving the customer un- educated. “the industry never educated the cus- tomer to ask right questions before signing up for an adventure holiday. there are horror stories of people on treks by the fly-by-night adventure op- erators who served only maggi noodles as staple diet on treks, again cost-cutting measures,” he said. he added that one could not expect “these operators to bring back the non-biodegradable garbage, as that too costs money when you need to pay porters to carry the garbage back.” commending mot and atoai for coming up with adventure tourism guidelines, he believed that the challenge now lied in its implementa- tion. “it is imperative that associations and state governments understand the need to collaborate with each other, especially with key players like atoai, the ecotourism society of india, and local tour operator associations at the state level, and come up with both safety and eco-guidelines as each can be a snag to the healthy growth of adventure travel in the country,” he reasoned. he suggested that safety guidelines needed to be enforced and licenses to operators needed to be given only after due diligence to mitigate safety issues of adventure travelers. “both industry and government representatives should be in the same team of inspection and granting licenses. it is a human life that is at stake not a sale of an untidy room, or a rickety bus, or such normal tourism calamity,” he asserted, pointing out the inherent risks associated with adventure tourism.