Footprints on the Mountainside

The Tourism ministry insists that they want to promote adventure tourism in India. Like cultural tourism, etc. Basically what they want is more tourists.

There are fancy initiatives and Incredible India and what-nots. Yet, how much attention is paid to actually facilitating tourism? How much attention is paid to ensure that the tourists come? Sure, tourists come. India has been a hotspot for travellers for thousands of years. But, if we want more, what do we do to ensure that the people who we invite are able to come and have a good experience?

What we have in the name of tourism is fancy packages. Sure. That is one element of tourism. Yet, somewhere down the line, we forget that we are actually inviting people to experience the country. We have invited them. They are our guests.

Seth Godin shared an experience in a visa office and talks about several, really easy to manage things that could make the experience more inviting. Not just inviting, it could translate into better revenue from more tourists, convenient airline bookings, welcoming interaction…. I can empathise with this post so much. How many of us really enjoy conversing with a person behind thick glass, waiting in a place with inadequate seating that is in disrepair……. would we want to do business with such people? Perhaps…. if we needed the product. But tourism is not a need. It is a dream we are selling. Could selling dreams become more interesting in a condusive environment that says we are interested in you?

When I set up Wide Aware, I had a talk with my CA, who needed to know the nature of business for figuring out tax and things. It was a rude awakening to know that the Tourism Ministry’s invite for people to provide adventure services hasn’t made it to the Tax Office. There IS no category for adventure services. It was a pain figuring out “what we were”. We are not travel agents, we do training, but we are not consultants - we do outbound training and fun programmes as well, We do outdoor education, but we are not an educational institution…….. If the memo had made the journey to the  Tax office, it would be a simple matter of “adventure services”. So, we want to promote adventure tourism, but of course, there is no adventure service provider in India. Really! Please bring your own rafting guide with you. We have the rivers. And yeah, travel agents conduct wildlife tours.

Rafting reminds me…. the river rafting that we do uses water from the dam at Bhire for the rapids. There have been numerous attempts over the years to try and bring some kind of predictability to it, so that the adventure tourism that the tourism ministry wants can happen. Nah! The dam officials don’t work in the tourism ministry, therefore it is not their problem. Thus, there is no way of knowing if water will be available, or you refund your bookings until the rafting run starts. Granted, the water is released almost everyday, but try explaining to a tourist waiting with gear ready that “oops! You get a refund - remember the cancellation clause that refers to events beyond our control?”

Last year, Amita wrote about a similar problem she had with Brightlands resort in Matheran. The hotel had overbooked, and she didn’t get the room she had booked. She took a refund, and when she called up the hotel owner, he told her that refunds were against their policy!!! There needs to be some kind of a regulation for this. I am not speaking of consumer courts, but enough issues in consumer courts reflecting in your licence.

There are tourists, there are locations, there are providers. What needs to be done is making that confluence easy and enjoyable.