When Kavitha Reddy set up Basecamp Adventures in 2009, it was more by coincidence than design, that her team turned out to be an all-women one. A qualified mountaineer from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Reddy has scaled several challenging peaks in the Indian and Nepal Himalayas. “I was working in the corporate world for over 14 years and wanted to do something different, since I loved outdoors/adventure, the idea of Basecamp Adventures sounded interesting and adventurous,” she says, pointing out that while her core team of guides (qualified mountaineers, adventure specialist, outdoor trainers) are women, the adventure programmes are for everyone.
It is however not surprising that more women adventure buffs prefer to join the events organised by the company. There is however no specialised services for women trekkers. “We treat them equally, since the groups are lead by women the women trekkers feel more comfortable, understood and are encouraged to take to trekking,” mentions Reddy. Everest Base Camp treks are mostly organised in the month of October. The best view of Mount Everest is visible from Kala Patthar.
Basecamp Adventures organises adventure activities across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and China. Weekend adventure activities like trekking, rafting, rock climbing and scuba diving activities are mostly concentrated in Karnataka, AP, TN, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra. The longer duration expeditions stretch all through the Himalayas. “Our uniqueness is in our methodology, we do end-to-end of the event on our own and no part get outsourced or sub-contracted, we do hire support staff locally but under the supervision of our core team. We plan our event calendar much in advance and only prefer smaller groups of 10-15 per batch, we do not get into the volume game and focus on quality and in providing a great experience for the participants,” mentions Reddy.
Explaining about the growth that her agency has witnessed in the last few years, Reddy states that she has always focused on India as a market, and the most visible growth is in the increase in the number of younger people seeking adventure activities. “Be it adrenaline rush or endurance more and more people are taking to adventure, the trend also shows that many women have taken to adventure travel like never before. Majority of Indian travellers were pilgrims and holiday goers, but there has been a 25 per cent increase in adventure travellers,” she adds. Reddy believes that with the country growing younger and a much stronger Indian economy and higher disposable income the adventure space will stand to gain over the next three-five years.
Though her agency is completely focused on outbound training and adventure travel/events, Reddy plans to add more options of holidays and extend the holiday packages covering more states and countries. “We are now exploring tie-ups and are networking with several players in the tourism space. We are also looking at adding more location for weekend adventure trips as a getaway for the city to the wild,” she informs. Reddy acknowledges that with increased accessibility and information people are exploring more places in India than ever before, many state tourism departments have identified the potential of the local markets/travellers and are building infrastructures and facilities to suit this need. “Globally there is a huge upsurge in women adventure travellers and many countries have come up with women specific packages offering a vast range of adventure and travel options and we see that trend catching up in India too,” she affirms.
