India’s burgeoning adventure tourism faces problems that, if not fixed, will kill this golden goose

In 2013, organised trekking had just begun to bloom in India. A new company announced a five-day trek across the Hampta Pass 14,000 ft above sea level in Himachal Pradesh, a dramatic crossover Himalayan trek. The trek's difficulty level was graded as 'easy to moderate'. Of the 20-odd people who signed up, only two had prior trekking experience.

Problems began as trekkers started gaining altitude, and the route became challenging. Some were not fit enough. Some had faulty gear. And a few refused to take medicine to help reduce high-altitude sickness. Regular oximeter checks were not conducted. There was a shortage of tents and sleeping bags. Alarmingly, no mandatory briefing and gear checks were done on Day 1.

As the team climbed the windy, narrow pass, a 23-year-old trekker fell terribly ill, possibly with acute mountain sickness (AMS), which can be fatal. Only the local guide - not the trek leader - realised the severity of the situation and quickly descended with the sick trekker on his shoulder.

Ten years on, adventure tourism in India, especially trekking, is growing exponentially. Plenty of new trekking routes have opened in Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and down south. Travel and hospitality companies report a 30% y-o-y uptick in demand for adventure trips, with even CEOs and CXOs taking the plunge.

Adventure tour operators are flooding social media with stunning photos and exciting opportunities to attract customers at all price points, encouraging them to explore the Great Indian Outdoors. This is a good thing. Almost 50% of adults in India, according to a new Lancet Global Health study, don't get enough exercise.

Many trek operators are doing good business but, unfortunately, cutting corners on the crucial issue of trekkers' physical safety, neglecting to check fitness levels, employ trained staff or adequately warn customers that while adventure tourism can be thrilling, they can kill people if certain protocols are not followed.

Additionally, there is a lack of emergency response and communication systems, limited enforcement of safety guidelines, a growing number of unregistered and low-cost operators and negligible physical infra in remote regions. Unregulated adventure tourism has other side effects too - destruction of pristine environments; water, air and plastic pollution; and tension between tourists and locals.

In June, nine trekkers from Karnataka were killed after being stranded while descending the tough Sahastra Tal trek in Uttarakhand because the two organisations involved in the trek's management allegedly failed to conduct participants' health and fitness checks. The ratio of trekkers-to-guides was poor, they failed to read the weather and were caught in a blizzard, without proper gear for the cold.

According to a 2022 news report, at least 150 people have lost their lives and over a dozen are still missing in the Indian Himalayas in the past five years.

Such problems don't beset the trekking sector alone. Bir in Himachal Pradesh, known as the 'Paragliding capital of India', has seen multiple mishaps. Away from the hills and mountains and along our coastlines, talk to scuba diving enthusiasts, and many will tell you that diving equipment often doesn't work properly underwater, or that pre-diving training is inadequate.

All these factors, and the lackadaisical attitude of most operators, can be life-threatening for enthusiasts and self-defeating for the adventure tourism segment, which GoI rightly believes to be a sunrise sector. Climate change can complicate matters further.

India has vast adventure tourism potential due to its diversity of geography and opportunities. A sectoral assessment by Anand Rathi Investment Banking states that the adventure tourism industry is expected to cross $2 bn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 20%.

In 2023, GoI set an ambitious target of a $3 tn tourism economy by 2047, with adventure tourism contributing $800 bn. It wants to make India one of the world's top 10 destinations for adventure tourists. Travel and tourism contributed 5.8% to GDP and created 32.1 mn jobs, which is equivalent to 6.9% of jobs in 2021. Last week, tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the 'definition of tourism is changing', and people are looking for 'immersive and experiential tourism'.

A year earlier, GoI had released the National Strategy for Adventure Tourism that promises to:

• Create synergies among GoI, states, the private sector and local communities for developing the sector.
• Develop skills, capacity building and certification for stakeholders.
• Strengthen the adventure tourism safety management framework, setting up a national and state-level rescue and communication grid, governance and institutional framework, adherence to safety standards, and compliance and strict enforcement of safety and service standards regulations.

GoI also released guidelines for 15 land-based, 7 air-based and 7 water-based activities on safety and quality norms for adventure tourism.

All these plans sound great. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. For now, things are not in good shape. If this situation is allowed to continue, India will kill the golden goose before it even has a chance to lay its proverbial eggs.