Tag Archives: ATOAI

Capt. Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI, claims that they had high hopes from the government this time, but budget again disappoints. Nothing in there especially for the tourism industry. From our end, we have been having a lot of meetings with the government, and had also submitted a wishlist, but nothing has come of it. Adventure tourism is the future of job generation in India with many adventure activities possible in all parts of India, may that be the Himalayas, deserts or coastlines. It’s unfortunate that this has not been considered. The impetus on last mile connectivity through building 1.25 lakh kilometers of roads under PM Gram Sadak Yojna is a positive move. The only news in the tourism front stressed on development of 17 iconic tourism sites to be upgraded to world class levels to attract domestic as well as foreign tourists. The Prime Minister had identified that out of the Five pillars (Five Ts), ‘Tourism’ is one of the most important, and, in India, it aims to achieve greater heights and new milestones. But that is missing in this budget.

The 14th Annual Convention of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) is set to be held in Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh from October 25-28, 2018. Keeping the tradition of holding the convention in an adventure destination every year, ATOAI has selected the Araku Valley this year as a venue for its annual convention. ATOAI is expecting over 250 participants mostly the leading adventure tour operators, hotels, DMCs, State Tourism Boards, travel trade from Andhra Pradesh as well as the neighbouring states in South India, officials from the Ministry of Tourism, bloggers and media to interact and network during the convention days. “The idea is to bring small operators from far-flung areas of the state and connect them with the adventure tourism experts, introducing a day of adventure activities to strengthen the fraternity,” said Capt Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI. The convention will offer structured opportunities for the travel trade and tourism boards to network for business development. These include networking sessions and a buyer-seller expo where companies may take up table space to promote their products and services. ATOAI has appointed Shekhar Babu (recipient of Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in year 2009 as well as Adventurer of the Year Award by ATOAI in 2017) as Co-chairman of the convention from South India. Delegates will also get an opportunity to go on pre or post-convention Fam tours hosted by Andhra Pradesh Tourism and state industry players.

The first ever Adventure Sports Expo Asia is going to be held in New Delhi from January 27-29 at Four Points by Sheraton. As many as 15000 visitors and sports enthusiasts are expected to attend the show. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, informed that the government has declared 2018 as the Year of Adventure and the ministry is going all out to promote the country as an important hub for adventure tourism. Ajeet Bajaj, Senior Vice President, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) and the Managing Director of Snow Leopard Adventures, said, “The mission behind the Expo is bringing together all stakeholders to make India an adventure powerhouse while keeping risk management, sustainability and responsible tourism at the forefront. ATOAI is the backbone as far this industry is concerned in India and our aim is to make India a global hub for adventure tourism. Internationally, the adventure sports industry is a $400 billion industry. According to industry estimates, the Indian inbound industry for adventure tourism in growing by 5-7 per cent annually and domestic tourism for this segment is on an upswing, growing by 20-25 per cent annually.” The expo will host many sessions addressing the various issues of the adventure sports industry with luminaries from across the globe. Commenting on the Expo, Rishi Narain, Founder and Managing Director, RN Sports Marketing, said, “India already has huge potential as an adventure sports destination with so much diversity from mountains to rivers and desserts. ASEA 2018 will market India as an iconic destination for adventure to the world with the support of ATOAI. The event will also recognise individuals/groups and companies in the field of adventure on the …

Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India (ATOAI) is all set to organise Adventure Tour Summit from April 26-28, 2018. Captain Swadesh Kumar, President, ATOAI, reveals that they had requested the Ministry of Tourism to declare 2018 as the ‘Year of Adventure Tourism’. He claims that it took them almost three months to convince MOT, and now they will organise activities related to this every month of this year in India. “Under this, we have requested the ministry to put adventure as the theme as part of its advertisement. We are doing a mega show where we are inviting 500 tour operators, travel agents and media from across the world from April 26-28, 2018. The aim is to make India’s incoming business for adventure tourism double in three years. The celebration will start from Delhi in January when we will be doing a roadshow, where we wish to have a seminar on an industry level and talk about adventure tourism. February we will be going to Maharashtra, and we will be carried on. One important thing we will be doing is that we will be launching the guidelines for adventure tourism in this country—guidelines for sustainable tourism, good practices and safety,” he elaborated.

Under the ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism, seven shortlisted companies or Monument Mitras have been given the Letter of Intent for the adoption of 14 monuments, which were presented at the closing ceremony of the three-week-long ‘Paryatan Parv’ at Rajpath Lawns, New Delhi. K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India, said, “We had over 1200 events across numerous sites in the country, across schools, monuments etc. In the past 20 days, we have turned India into a land of celebrations with the help of our 18 sister ministries and thanks to the overwhelming participation of our own people.” SBI Foundation was shortlisted for the adoption of Jantar Mantar, Delhi, while TK International Limited would be adopting Sun Temple, Konark; Raja Rani Temple, Bhubaneshwar, and Ratnagiri Monuments, Jajpur, Odisha. On the other hand, Yatra Online Pvt. Limited would adopt Hampi, Karnataka; Leh Palace, Jammu & Kashmir; Qutub Minar, Delhi and Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra. Travel Corporation of India Ltd. was shortlisted for the adoption of Mattancherry Palace Museum, Kochi, and Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi. Adventure Tour Operator Association of India (ATOAI) will be adopting Gangotri Temple Area and Trail to Gaumukh, as well as Mt. StokKangri, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. Special Holidays Travel Pvt. Ltd., along with Rotary Club of Delhi was shortlisted for the adoption of Agrasen ki Baoli, Delhi, and NBCC would adopt Purana Quila, Delhi. Arun Jaitley, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Government of India, also the Chief Guest presented certificates to the ‘Best Participating Central Government Ministry and Best Participating State Government’ at the closing ceremony. The grand spectacle included cultural performances by different state troops, craft mela showing diverse handicrafts …

All travel trade agencies recognised or approved by the Ministry of Tourism are required to submit their data on digital transactions on a monthly basis, positively by the 20th of every month starting August 1, 2017 to the Ministry. The Ministry of Tourism had assigned travel trade associations including IATO, TAAI, ITTA, ADTOI and ATOAI the responsibility to promote digital transactions in the tourism sector. MOT had mailed the associations on Sept 22, 2017, regarding furnishing and submission of the same to the Ministry. The MOT will consolidate the data on digital transactions in the organised sectors for review by the PMO through the Ministry of Electronics and Information & Technology.

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) will host its 13th annual convention at Backwater Ripples Resort in Kumarakom, Kerala, from September 18-21, 2017. The theme of the convention-Emerging Pathways will focus on making India as the adventure capital of the world. The convention will provide a platform for key stakeholders of the industry including representatives of the government, tourism boards and other players, to deliberate upon adventure tourism policy, capacity creation, responsible tourism and marketing of this segment.

Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) has elected Captain Swadesh Kumar, Managing Director, Shikhar Travels India, as President for 2016-18. The office bearers were elected unopposed. Ajeet Bajaj, Managing Director, Snow Leopard Adventures is the new Senior Vice President; Tejbir Singh Anand, Managing Director, Holiday Moods Adventures has been elected as Vice President; Rajesh Ojha, Co-founder, Banjara Camps and Retreats is the new Secretary while the position of Honorary Secretary will be held by Vaibhav Kala, Founder, Aquaterra Adventures. “The association will shift its trajectory from Himalayan centric to a pan-India focus for adventure tourism. Since around 22 million Indian travellers go abroad to experience adventure holidays, we plan to involve international members into the association and also focus on outbound segment of travel for adventure tourism,” says Kumar. The elected Executive Committee members are Mohan Tickoo, Managing Director, Kash Venture Travels; Sanjay Basu, Managing Director, Far Horizon Tours; Vishwas Makhija, Managing Director, India Insight Tours; Shashank Gupta, Director, Rucksack Tours; Vinayak Koul, Director, Snow Lion Expeditions and Akshay Kumar, CEO, Mercury Himalayan Exploration, who is also the Immediate Past President.

At the behest of Adventure Travel Operators Association of India (ATOAI), Vinod Zutshi, Secretary Tourism, Government of India, announced the formation of National Task Force on Adventure Tourism for the development and promotion of adventure tourism in India. The National Task Force will be chaired by the Secretary Tourism while the team will comprise Joint Secretary Tourism as the convener, Joint Secretaries of MHA, MEA, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoEF, MOD, Ministry of Sports, Director- Indian Mountaineering Foundation, Principal- IISM, Gulmarg, Director – National Institute of Water Sports, Goa, President of ATOAI, Representative of ATOAI, secretaries of all states concerned with Adventure Tourism and Dy. Director General (Niche Tourism). The task force also aims to resolve the issues related to the segment which includes safety and security of adventure tourists, accessibility, products and promotion, among others. “Adventure travel is facing challenges on multiple fronts, across almost every region in India. Safety, accessibility, licensing and standards are the four pillars of any adventure travel destination and we have to deal with multiple ministries and offices to address these issues. The formation of the National Task Force on Adventure Travel will not only attempt to address these challenges, but at the same time, will be able to highlight our vast plethora of natural assets to international markets – which have till now been ignored,” said Akshay Kumar, President, ATOAI.  “It will allow the great geographical features of India and the adventure tourism opportunities there to become a focus for development and promotion throughout the global markets. This in turn will make the field grow tremendously in revenues, helping Indian tourism to potentially double the number of international tourist arrivals in India,” said …

A national conference is going to be held jointly by IATO, TAAI, TAFI, ATOAI, FHRAI, and ICPB, on January 10, 2017. Subhash Goyal, Immediate Past President, IATO, informed that he has been elected as the Chairman of the Conference which will be called ‘Incredible India Calling’. Goyal also said, “We have requested the honourable Minister of Tourism to write to the Prime Minister to finalise the date. We are expecting around 15,000-20,000 people to attend the conference which will be the mother of all conferences. We hope it to be a grand success.”