En route to career with booming opportunities

Sky diving over the Gangetic plain in Uttar Pradesh, bunjee jumping in the Himalayan foothills at Rishikesh or kayaking in Kerala – a holiday is no longer about only sightseeing. With experiential travel becoming the buzzword in the past few years and the outdoors offering the respite from the wired world, adventure tourism is on a high in the country. So, if you want your office to be at a campsite in the hills and your target to be exploring the uncharted path, tourism could be your calling.

While private tour operators are the frontrunners in the industry, earlier this month the Union government too decided to take up a more active role in the sector by declaring 2018 as the Year of Adventure Tourism. The Centre’s decision to open up 104 additional peaks in Jammu and Kashmir (Leh area) positions the Indian Himalayas as a bigger adventure tourism destination. The ministry of tourism has also formulated safety guidelines that promote 28 adventure sports including trekking, hang gliding, paragliding and river rafting.
And this is just going to keep growing, believes Deepika Chowdhry of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) which worked with the government on creating the safety guidelines.
"We are working with the ministry to establish an adventure tourism diploma course," she says. Tapping into the country’s diverse landscape, ATOAI has tied up with state tourism boards to explore region-specific activities. "Every terrain has a potential. For instance, Madhya Pradesh has forests, rivers and sharp cliffs so we are training local youths in birding, rock climbing and river rafting," says Chowdhry.
From instructors, guides, tour planners, tourism ministry positions or entrepreneurs, the career path of a student with a love for the outdoors is varied. A student can choose from short-term courses for tourist guides or mountaineering instructors to full-time BBA (tourism and travel), and supplement it with an MBA. "Students are taught both the theory of tourism management and also get an opportunity to work in the industry for more than six months," says Jeet Dogra, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Tourism Management, an autonomous body under ministry of tourism.
"Tourism industry is dominated by youngsters and startups are playing an important role in the business. Catering to the demand, tourism is now one of the emerging academic disciplines in the social science," he says.
Technical aspects apart, it’s the familiarity with the region, affable personality and knowledge of more than one language that will hold aspirants in good stead, points out former TN tourism development manager N Ravi. "A graduate in history or geography can take up short-term training or work with tour operators to gain experience and then set out on their own," he says, adding in Tamil Nadu nearly 30,000 guides fluent with Hindi and another foreign language are required.
"The key is to identify the needs of a tourist. Visitors should be provided a wholesome experience. A visitor to Mammallapuram should get to eat south Indian food, visit the Pallava era monuments and try surfing," says Ravi, who now runs the travel firm Tour Boss.