Adventure Sports Tourism in India Worth $2bn

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Adventure sports tourism in India worth$2bnBy Mansi DesaiCreated 18 Oct 2010 - 06:41

MUMBAI: Adventure sports tourism, till not too long ago a passive contributor to the tourismmarket in India, is growing on the back of concerted marketing and promotional initiativesbeing undertaken by state tourism departments and tour operators.

According to estimates provided by various tour operators, approximately 20% of theearnings from tourism comes from adventure tourism. Of the 20% contribution, approximately65% of it comes from foreign tourists arriving in India. This translates into adventure tourismcontributing Rs. 731.2 billion or $ 2 billion.

As far as the various parts of the country contributing to the market are concerned, North-EastIndia dominates with adventure tourism contributing 85% of overall tourism earnings in theregion followed by North India (65%); Western India (55%); South India (40%); and East &Central India (20% each).

Till 2008-09 the tourism ministry did not segregate figures of the Adventure sports tourismmarket. However, taking in view the growing business and contribution to the total market, thisyear the ministry is expected to have a separate analysis of the contribution.

“We have approximately 150 members in our association,” saysAdventure Tour OperatorsAssociation of India (ATOAI) President Tejbir Singh Anand.

“Adventure sports tourism market has been growing at a rate of 20-25% annually. The touroperators have been in existence since 1980; however, this sector has come into prominencesince a decade because of active marketing and promotional strategies, conductingworkshops etc. Moreover, many corporate are engaging into adventure sports, which havecertainly given a boost to the industry,” Anand adds.

“One obstacle that the industry is facing is the lack of synergy between the government andthe operators. Otherwise it is a good product in terms of quality as major operators provideinternational safety measures,” he states.

Talking about the destinations that generate maximum revenue he says, “Himachal hasalways been the most popular destinations amongst the tourists. Ladakh and Dhauj (which isconsidered as the Mecca for rock climbers) have been gaining interest recently amongst

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domestic travelers.”

A lot of tour operators have been consistently taking efforts to boost the sector in India.Present in the business since 11 years now, Adventure Hills marketing head Sandhya feels,“After 11 years of our launch, we don’t have to concentrate on direct marketing. Instead,consumers themselves have become aware of adventure sports and their tour operators andare hence themselves approaching us. Our business has grown by 30-35%.”

“We cater to destinations namely, Himachal, Uttaranchal and Leh-Ladakh. Our majorinternational clientele comes from UK and Germany. As concerns the domestic consumers,maximum tourist interested in adventure sports are from Gujarat followed by Maharashtra.Moreover, May-August is the season where we see a lot of demand and Himachal is thedestination with high demand followed by Uttarakhand,” she adds.

Some tour operators focus on foreigners as their primary market. “About 95% of our clienteleare foreigners while 5% are Indians. For us, Europe is a big market followed by USA, SouthAfrica and Australia. Our target consumers are the high-end communities which are of theage group of 35+,” says Go Adventuresports owner Rana Sidhu.

“We cater to all kinds of adventure sports from mountaineering, skiing, river rafting, scubadiving, paragliding etc. Majority of our packages are for destinations in India, however, wealso provide packages for destinations in Africa, Russia, and Australia. The otherdestinations we want to explore in future are South America, Alaska and Antarctica,” Sidhustates.

“According to me, the demand for a particular destination depends on the adventure sportsresources available there. For e.g.: For scuba diving Andaman & Nicobar Islands andLakshadweep are the best markets while mountaineering, trekking is the best in North India,”Sidhu adds.

Talking about the business growth he says, “Our company sees an annual growth of 16-18%.”



Establishing an adventure sports tourism company doesn’t necessarily require hugeinvestments. Waltair Group’s Escapade Thrills, launched by five youngsters, is one suchgroup that was set up with a nominal investment of Rs 400,000 but is today operational inIndia and 9 other locations in Asia and Africa - Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia,Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, South Africa and Maldives.

“Our club caters to sports such as scuba diving, white water rafting, kayaking, snorkeling,fishing, angling, bungee jumping, trekking, parasailing and many more. Initial investmentrequired is not much to open up an adventure sports tourism company. Moreover, talkingabout the turnover, the business has a potential of earning a turnover after one quarter,” saysBangalore based Escapade Thrills' Mukul Ronak Das.

“We have both inbound and outbound tourism packages and see a lot of demand fromSingapore and Europe tourists who are interested in adventure sports tourism in India. Majorchunk of our consumers is from educational institutions and corporate. Age group would beanyone from a 10 year old to 50 year old,” adds Das.

“North India i.e., Himachal at present dominates the market. Moreover, we see a lot ofpotential in South Indian destinations because of the availability of resources and secondly,the size of the zone is big, however, they are yet aren’t promoted well. 55-60% of the totaladventure sports tourism revenue is from North Indian destinations,” he adds.

“India is a country where adventure sports can be done throughout the year. For e.g.: Whitewater River rafting is done in the summer in North India whereas it is done in monsoon inSouth India,” he states.

“India has a lot of unexplored destinations when it comes to adventure sports. With reachingout globally, we want to showcase India as the adventure hub as well as make Indiansconscious of the adventure they have been avoiding till now because of issues such as safetyetc,” he adds.

Talking about the safety measures, Das says, “Safety is of primary importance and asconcerns our international destinations, the overseas operations keeps a check on the safetystandards which are accredited by European and Australian standards. Talking about theIndian destinations, we have a group of trained experts and the equipments used are ofinternational standards.”

“Adventure sports tourism market can see an immediate growth rate of 8-8.5%,” states Das.

Mentioning details on their future plans, Das says, “We would be expanding our operations tothe countries namely Africa, South America and Europe which will add 15 destinations to ourlist by December 2010. Our long term plan is to launch a Adventure Theme Valley and aGlobe City which will be a model of different places of the world.”

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Adventure Sports Tourism in India Worth $2bn