THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Houseboats and beaches, which have been synonymous with Kerala’s tourism industry, are fast losing their sheen with tourists showing increased interest in adventure tourism. The potential of adventure and activity-based tourism has dawned on the state’s authorities. But the absence of proper guidelines and a system to register and license such activities are keeping prospective stakeholders at bay.
While Kovalam in the capital offers adventure activities in the form of scuba diving, Varkala is home to wave surfing and paragliding activities. Barring some speed boating activity in Kappil and Veli, the sector is more or less dry in the capital district but has immense potential if developed intelligently. “There are a lot of investors who are ready to tap the state’s adventure and activity tourism sector in a big way. But in the absence of a proper system, they are hesitant to pump in money,” said a tourism entrepreneur.
The hurdles
Kovalam - the prime tourist spot in the capital - has virtually no activity to boast in the realm of adventure activities apart from scuba diving. The reason: The Department of Ports holds a vast sway over any marine activity even though it may be entirely tourism-related. Attempts to introduce parasailing in Kovalam has not met with success due to the lackadaisical attitude of the Ports Department.
Due to large-scale proliferation of vessels around the Vizhinjam port, the Ports Department had stopped issuing licence to new ones in the past few years. The Department is not willing to reconsider its decision even after tourism stakeholders proposed operating them in less-crowded destinations.
“If an activity like parasailing faces roadblocks for years, think about the prospects of jet skiing and wind surfing which we are planning to introduce in Kovalam. Adventure tourism activities come under the jurisdiction of various government departments. A single-window system that can cut through red tape is the need of the hour,” says Jackson Peter, managing director of Bond Safari.
Guidelines Soon
The Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society (KATPS) has recently aoonformulated a set of guidelines in consultation with various stakeholders. The guidelines are presently being vetted by the government and are expected to be out by August end, said Manesh Bhaskaran, CEO of KATPS.
Competent Authority
According to some industry stakeholders, a licensing and registering authority for adventure and activity-based tourism is easier said than done. Advenure tourism activities are so varied that any agency entrusted with the task of licensing should have expertise in diverse areas. Entrusting the task with an agency which is technically unfit would undermine the whole purpose and lead to rampant corruption, they say. “If there is one body that is technically equipped to license and register such activities, it is none other than the Adventure Tour Operators’ Association of India (ATOAI). Only they have the representatives from each adventure activity and also the expertise in the field,” says Sam T Samuel of Kalypso Adventures.