The Maharashtra State Government submitted a policy in June this year to the High Court suggesting that all organisers of holiday and adventure camps henceforth will have to be registered. The move is an attempt to regulate the burgeoning travel segment. The Indian travel segment is growing rapidly and the trends show an upward curve in the lean towards experiential and adventure holidays. However, following a series of unfortunate accidents, some fatal, public outcry led to the aforementioned decision by the authorities.
The policy’s focus is to regulate trekking and mountaineering activities and has decided on a minimum qualification and experience for trainers and instructors. It also caps the admissible age limit of treks to over 3000m to permit only those above 16 years.
The policy further provides specifications for the required equipment and life saving apparatus and has recognised select institutions for training, instructing and guiding so as to minimise medical risks. A code of conduct has also been laid down for the organisers. A breach of conditions would culminate in the cancellation of their registration.
Speaking about the impact of the policy, Milind Bhide, MD, Countryside Adventure Holidays, said, “The government of Maharashtra has made a government’s resolution(GR) for organisations conducting adventure activities, and has made registration mandatory for such organisations. The GR also has some regulatory framework to regulate & operating guidelines for adventure activities such as climbing, trekking, snowboarding, paragliding etc. The adventure tour sector may take some time to adapt itself completely in the new environment. Hence, it is too early to predict the implications of the Maharashtra Government’s latest Resolution.”
Anirudh Chaoji, Director, Pugmarks opined that the industry desperately needed a regulation as it’s absence had led to a free-for-all style of running business with the adventure equipment and safety measures not up to the mark. He stated that operators would use outdated and old equipment with no one to monitor them or provide guidelines to point out the right way to do it. The industry, he said, needed someone to improve the rut of the adventure tourism segment.
Commenting on the challenges such a policy might pose, Bhide opined that there is a need of having some registration and regulation along with broad guidelines. However, he added, the GR in its current form lacks clarity. “If implemented without making few necessary changes may create confusion and will be deterrent to the activity,” he said.
Rajinder Singh, Director, The Wanderers called the move a step in the right direction. However, he added, the GR document is flawed and is grey in most areas. “Most experts in the industry were never consulted while framing this GR and nor were they part of the process of framing these guidelines. The GR in its shape and form will only lead to chaos, a license raj and surely corruption. We are willing to be a part of the creation of these guidelines and in fact we want watertight yet a very transparent GR which is implementable. The Govt has to take the right steps by first recognising ‘Adventure Tourism’ as an industry, involving the industry experts to create these norms and create the requisite infrastructure for the safety and growth of this industry,” Singh said.
According to Chaoji, when the ruling finally came in, it was more bureaucratic and red-tape than expected. “It’s more of a permit raaj where you register the number of people going, gender segregation and so on with the district sports officer, when what should have been included were standard operating procedures, evacuation norms and the likes,” he stated.
The Adventure Tour Operators of Maharashtra (ATOM) are together formulating certain corrections in the GR. Chaoji, who is one of the founding members of the association, reiterated that the GR itself is a must and the association is not opposing it, but feels it needs more practicalities for the improvement of adventure activities. “We do want a regulatory system in place where fly by night operators who will not take customers for a ride with bad equip and unsafe measures,” he added.
