Active Holiday Company, an adventure tour company in India, has launched its first Outbound Adventure Tourism Report. The report highlights that the most popular destination for adventure travel for Indian travellers is Europe and UK followed closely by the Far East. The company also recently organised International Adventure Travel Symposium in Mumbai. This event witnessed key speakers from Exodus and Intrepid, the two major companies in adventure travel.
Gauri Jayaram, founder, Active Holiday Company, said, “Indian is up and ready for focused adventure holidays. With the success of our first International Adventure Travel Symposium, we shall plan to make it an annual event and also look to host it in other cities. Our report on Outbound Adventure Tourism is one of the first in the country. We will update the report annually and will also publish trends based on our research from the next edition.”
The symposium also hosted a panel discussion where representatives of Malaysia Tourism, Oman Tourism and Italy Tourism had participated. The tourism boards touched upon topics like ‘ How international tourism boards are promoting adventure travel in India.’
Manoharan Periasamy, director-India, Tourism Malaysia, said, “Earlier we showcased Malaysia as a family destination. But over the years we have realised that Indian travellers have evolved and so has the demand for adventure travel. Malaysia has a lot of adventure destinations to be explored. We will talk to all the dedicated tour operators who focus on adventure travel to promote Malaysia as an adventure spot. The only challenge which I see is, adventure travel is still a very niche segment, so catering Indian food in unexplored adventure destinations may be an issue.”
Salvatore Ianniello, representative India, ENIT said, “We have identified 64 destinations in Italy which are excellent for adventure travel. It was very difficult to promote Italy in the India market a decade ago, but now Indian travellers are looking out for more active and participatory holidays.”
Lubaina Sheerazi, India representative of the ministry of tourism, Oman said, “Since 2010, we have aggressively started promoting Oman. The USP of Oman is its culture, the people and the hospitality along with shopping. We do have a lot of unexplored destinations for adventure travel enthusiasts in Oman. Right from trekking till diving, Oman offers a bouquet of adventure destinations. When it comes to cuisine, Omani cuisine is quite similar to Indian cuisine, so I think we can cater to the demands of Indian adventure travellers.”