TravTalk India Online Magazine
ATOAI officials said they had begun to receive ‘excellent feedback’ on adventure tourism from both domestic and foreign travellers before the news of omicron started affecting the business again. Keeping in view the unfoldling situation, the association needs to ‘reassess and replan’ its strategies.
Janice Alyosius
Adventure travel was witnessing a ray of hope before the news of omicron dampened the spirits a bit. Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) officials said they had begun to receive “excellent feedback” from both domestic and foreign travellers. Now, their hope hinges on the fact that the situation won’t get worse.
“With the omicron news, the association needs to reassess and replan,” stated Vinayak Koul, Honorary Secretary, ATOAI.
“We’re hoping it doesn’t turn out to be as massive as the second wave because a lot is riding on the next month’s events,” he added.
Talking about the association’s achievements, Tejbir Singh Anand, Executive Committee Member, ATOAI, said, “We were able to form a new women’s chapter committee with the idea and goal of bringing female entrepreneurs together. Addressing the difficulties that women confront and providing them with a platform will empower them. And I think it’s a great initiative by ATOAI which we’re proud of.”
As per Koul, domestic tourism has been crucial support for the industry people to keep them afloat last year. Many hotel and tourism service providers saw a beacon of hope.
“Domestic travel has been a boon during the Covid era when the skies were closed and tour operators and service providers were unsure where to look for work. Domestic travel has aided them and given the country’s domestic tourism a much-needed boost,” he said.
Adding to the view, Anand said, “In Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, there was a lot of migration. The domestic market exploded, especially in these two states where Covid rules were not in place and a record number of people travelled.”
Regarding the ATOAI’s plans for the year ahead, Koul said that the organisation is planning to offer new and unique services to travellers while keeping high levels of hygiene and meeting customer expectations. “The majority of tour operators are preparing because they realise they won’t be able to run the trips the same way they did before Covid.”
Anand added, “I’m very hopeful that the image of India as an adventure destination will improve in the coming year. We are in partnerships with international associations, who are trying to help us pitch India in the right direction as an adventure destination, and I’m very optimistic that by October 2022, we will have a lot of inbound groups coming in.”
Speaking of the association’s work with the government, Koul said, “Several meetings with the government are happening. We are requesting the government to give more emphasis to the promotion of adventure tourism in the country. We believe adventure tourism has got untapped potential that needs to be explored.”
Anand said, “Our expectation from the Minister of Tourism and the Government of India is that they will assist us in advertising and branding ourselves in the market. India controls 73 percent of the Himalayan range. It’s time for us to sell India as an adventure destination to the rest of the world. Apart from the famous tourist spots in India, there is much more to discover.”
