Straight Answers

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Vinay Sirsi</span>, founder partner, Ozone, on the future of adventure tourism in Karnataka.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Where does Karnataka stand when talking about the future of adventure tourism?</span><br />Up north when you want to climb a mountain or go trekking, there are established organisations like the Indian Mountaineering Federation to take you up there.In south India, our wilderness areas are so small that there is immense pressure on the government and forest department to protect it. They do that by keeping people out. Adventure sport requires wild terrain so when there is restricted access, where do people go? <br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">So how do adventure organisations like yours function?</span><br />What we do is partner with governmental or quasi-governmental agencies which have access to these areas. But since there are two players involved, it''s more expensive. Also, because of that we cannot offer the classic backpacking budget experience.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">How does one make the government open up its forests and wildlife spaces?</span><br />We''re lacking a lobby or action group for adventure tourism. There should be talks of responsible use of wilderness areas. We''re saying that if the government is talking about saving our environment, people should be given a chance to see what they''re saving. Adventure tourism is a serious game, so we have to manage our wilderness areas. It means creating trails demarcating our forests.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What does Karnataka have to offer?</span><br />In Karnataka you can pretty much do everything. The highest number of rock climbers are from Bangalore. We have traditional climbing areas like Hampi and Badami which attract a great number of established climbers from all over the world. It''s a huge adventure sport that can be developed. All you need is infrastructure and exposure. </div> </div>