The Hindu Business Line : The outdoor zealots

A new breed of entrepreneurs is high on adventure... with the will to explore and a love for the wilderness, they have eco-tourism and offbeat holidays working for them.

They took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference. Breaking away from the grind, they chased a little cloud in the sky. They climbed the tallest of mountains to discover joy. They passed the lush meadows and crossed the rivers intercepting the land. And on the way stumbled on something that changed their lives forever.

We are talking about a bunch of outdoor zealots, to whom travelling or adventure sports was just a passion until they realised it was their calling too.

With varied backgrounds and interests, they do not have much in common except perhaps the will to explore and a love for the wilderness. Throw into this a bit of business sense and you have one explosive combination — making up an extremely savvy entrepreneur in a relatively unchartered territory of eco-tourism and adventure.

Leisure and tourism have certainly evolved over the years. As new patterns emerge, customised journeys, home-stays, eco-retreats and theme-based travel have become the latest buzzwords, with stress on outdoor activity and environmental sensitivity.

Here are stories of new-age entrepreneurs who have created a unique place for themselves in this niche industry.

The emerging holiday mantra

After 25 years in India, Ram Badrinathan was itching to get out. An MBA was just the excuse he needed to go to Hong Kong. Work followed suit.

But the travel bug in him took him and his wife Shobhana Jain, an avid traveller herself, to South-East Asia, US and Europe. But when the "fascination for the West evaporated, interest in Indian classical music and culture began," says Badrinathan. "We started missing the small touches. We used to come to India regularly for holidays and loved it each time."

They soon realised that the idea of "immersive travel", which combined the "spirit of a backpacker with the comforts of a high-end traveller," was a growing trend all over the world.

"We returned home and travelled around India. And we came across places such as Himalayan Village in Uttaranchal and Churhat Kothi in Bandhavgarh that were just in sync with what we were looking for," says Badrinathan. "People here work with land — small, intimate and environmentally sensitive — and want to use their space for beyond `a hotel and room'."

This was just the ideal medium for the couple to create a whole new travel idiom by providing varied cultural experiences — through workshops in music, yoga and even film-making — in an unshackled natural setting. The idea was conceived in 2003 and thus was born the Mumbai-based travel company Soulitudes.

If homesickness triggered Badrinathan, dreary office life drove some others to pursue their dreams.

Ashish Arora grew up in Nainital and the valleys were no strangers to him. Even while in school, he was into hiking and exploring new routes and places. Work took him to Delhi and exposed him to the "big city life, the corporate lingo, the politics, the deadlines, and the rat race."

Despite being fairly successful in the job, he missed the action of the outdoors. Arora quit his job and started an adventure sports outfit that organised jungle safaris, treks and rafting expeditions. "Having done this for three years, I realised that this kind of `offbeat' holidaying is the emerging market," he says.

Arora and his friend Navin Pangti plunged into this venture; and Himalayan Village Sonapani, a beautiful retreat in Nainital district, became operational in 2004.

At a height of 2,000 metres, Sonapani hosts beautiful cottages and fruit orchards, and is flanked by oak, rhododendron and pine forests. While here, one can check out activities such as rock climbing, rappelling, simulated river crossing and jungle walks.

Choosing to stay away from the beaten track, Rajesh Ojha and Captain Ajay Sud travelled to Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) and saw in the valleys the perfect ambience to set up a small eco-retreat and camp.

As the beauty of the Sangla valley, response from guests and the bonding with villagers took place, more eco-camps sprang up. Banjara Camps and Retreats, for the last 11 years, has been running camps at dizzying heights of 2,700 metres to 4,200 metres in Sangla, Kaza, Shoja and Thanedar. These luxury camps — Swiss-style tents with attached bathrooms, a well-equipped kitchen and evening bonfires, set amidst mountains locked in frozen glacier and gurgling river waters — promise you the experience of a lifetime. And you could try your hand at treks, rappelling and river rafting.

Of thrills and spills

While nature enthrals these people, the carefree abandon of adventure sports thrills Major S.R. Roy no end.

Quitting the army after 16 years, Roy came to Chennai looking to make a career of what he knew best. In 1998, he started Adventure Zone, which organises outdoor activities such as rappelling, parasailing, scuba diving and rock climbing.

"With the entry of TV channels like Discovery, awareness about adventure sports rose. Unlike countries such as Thailand and Australia where it is a tourism-driven initiative, here the market is limited. But there is definitely interest among the adventure junkies," says Roy.

"Active travel is growing rapidly as more people move away from conventional four-walled travel and seek active trips, camping, outdoor ideas," says Vaibhav Kala, founder, Delhi-based Aquaterra Adventures. "This upcoming adventure travel industry needs many skilled guides for trekking, rock activities, rafting and camp managers."

But beyond all the romanticism, there is lot of hard work. "Adventure sports is hot, dirty and sweaty," warns Roy. "One must be physically fit and athletic. Mental alertness, patience and responsibility are essential. You cannot afford to let your guard down even for a second. It all boils down to being a service industry. You've got to smile and carry on, even if you feel like letting go of the rope, while tackling tough clients."

There are institutes in Manali, Uttarkashi and Darjeeling, which offer short-term courses in outdoor activities. But training apart, experience is the best teacher, say industry players.

Business prospects

From a business perspective, in offbeat travel, multi-tasking is the operative word — marketing, distribution relationships, logistics and execution and working with the local community.

But it's certainly no one-man show. Besides passion, zeal and loads of self-belief, a great deal of planning and teamwork is involved.

"Now there are enough people (read entrepreneurs) who want to sell this kind of experience. For the last few years, a national body, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India, has been representing the interests of adventure tour operators. Though the main body is still controlled and managed by the organisers of trekking and mountaineering expeditions, young entrepreneurs are increasingly becoming members," says Ojha.

But unlike the traditional tourism sector with established protocol and procedures, players in offbeat tourism have no rulebook to go by.

Badrinathan explains, "In the absence of institutions focussing on offbeat travel, one goes exploring, reflecting and suddenly it becomes clearer. It's serendipity. Options for the local community are wonderful; it creates wealth and employment apart from enhancing knowledge. But for urban professionals, it is not lucrative unless one is an entrepreneur. The gestation period is 2-3 years. Since this model is not very scalable, it will not see IPO or shareholder value. But once settled, it allows a comfortable life for the entrepreneur."

Graphics by P. Manivannan

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