In an attempt to position India as one of the most sought after adventure tourism destination in the world, the Union Ministry of Tourism launched ‘777 Days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas’ campaign on the World Tourism Day i.e September 27. “The MoT has decided to meet 50 per cent of Peak fee chargeable by Indian Mountaineering Foundation from the climbing expeditions during the period of 777 days of the campaign,” K. Chiranjeevi, Former Minister of Tourism(I/C), Govt of India, said after launching the campaign.
Chiranjeevi further informed that the campaign has been designed to create awareness in the global tourism market that 73 per cent of Himalayan range lies in India. “The Indian Himalayas themselves are a complete destination which can be explored around the year for variety of experiences. The travellers can look towards Indian Himalayas for adventure and skiing in winters; exploring bio-diversity hotspots during the spring; mountaineering expeditions during the summer; and undertaking variety of leisure and cultural activities during autumn,” the Minister said.
However, he urged stakeholders to promote Himalayas in a sustainable manner keeping in view the carrying capacity of the destinations. “We are also looking at opening new air strips to facilitate travel to Himalayan regions,” Chiranjeevi said. The campaign is well supported by states having Himalayas. This was evident from the presence of Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Minister of Tourism (J&K), Amrita Rawat, Minister of Culture & Tourism, Uttarakhand; Bhim Prasad Dhungel, Minister of Tourism & Civil Aviation, Sikkim and Pasawj Sona Dorajee, Parliamentary Secretary – Tourism, Arunachal Pradesh among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said that the promotion of Himalayas as a tourism destination will also enable India to be marketed as a round-the-year travel destination since Himalayas provided opportunities for travellers round the year. The Ministry also launched a Himalayan Map and a Directory of Events that would contain the activities to be undertaken during the campaign. Two short films titled ‘Greatest Show on the Earth’ and ‘Life Altering Journey’ were also released by the Ministry.
Talking to T3 on the sideline of the event, Ghulam Ahmad Mir lauded the initiative of the Ministry. “We are one of the biggest stakeholders of the Himalayas. Jammu & Kashmir will automatically benefit from this campaign. The state is closely working with MoT to solve issues related with opening of more peaks, and developing communication systems,” Mir said. Similar opinion was expressed by the Tourism Minister of Uttarakhand. “The campaign will create greater awareness about the Himalayas and will benefit all stakeholding states. We will try to create our own programmes around the campaign to promote the state,” Amrita Rawat said.
Dhungel opined that the campaign will further push tourist arrival to Sikkim. “Sikkim is already popular as an adventure tourism destination and this campaign will further strengthen Sikkim as an adventure destination on the global tourism map,” Dhungel said. Sona said that that campaign will help the Arunachal Pradesh in promoting mountaineering, heliskiing, and other adventure activities.
The Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) is collaborating with the Ministry in the campaign and has designed special adventure programmes for 777 days. ATOAI would organise trekking, river rafting, Himalayan run, mountain and bike events as part of this campaign.
“The incentive offered by the Ministry of Tourism on the Peak Royalty Fee will give a boost to the adventure tourism in the country, as paying the entire fee of US$ 1,500-4,000 was deterring adventure enthusiasts from undertaking expeditions to the Himalayas. Over and above the Fee imposed by IMF, states like Uttarakhand and Sikkim levy a state Fee. We are holding discussions with these states to waive off the additional fee,” Akshay Kumar, President, ATOAI, said.
Conrad Anker, a noted mountain climber with experience of more than 25 years of climbing expeditions in the Himalayan region shared his experiences of the area. He expressed the hope that the reduction of Peak Fees by the Government of India shall motivate mountain climbers to come to the Himalayan region in greater numbers. Speaking on the occasion, Ashwani Kakkar, Chairman, Mercury Travels, said that this campaign would highlight the virtues of Himalayan Tourism and its bio-diversity hotspot.
