It is not quite long since Tourism itself became an industry on its own right, in India. And, during the past decade, India made huge gains as a touristic destination in Asia. The exotic sight of enticing snakes to dance to the soulful music of flutes has long captured the imagination of visitors to India. But what once was a symbol of Indian (touristic)culture, is slowly fading away to exotic ‘palace on wheels’ train service in Rajasthan to palatial ‘house boats’ in Kerala backwaters.

Aero Sports remained as a hobby to the privileged until the early nineties. The sport caught attention of the gen-X by way of Hang Gliding, Para Gliding and other forms of recreational flying. Being comparatively less expensive, ParaGliding started catching fancy for many adventure sports enthusiasts the world over and a good number of Glider pilots started exploring a few ParaGliding sites in India. Their presence augured well to the sport. In the old days, people were able to accumulate wealth at the time of retirement. And, that was the time they chose to travel. So, relaxation was the main ‘expectation’ in their travel agenda(travel Push&Pull theory). Time has changed. Most of the travelers now are young and they expect activities in their destination. Volvo Ocean Race Stop Over at Cochin makes a case in point. At a time when tourism arrivals were dwindling alarmingly with terrorism along with economic recession, adding salt to the wound, the Volvo Stop Over rekindled the enthusiasm in the hospitality industry and travel trade in general.

Opportunities have opened up now in Adventure Tourism in India and Aero Sports is perhaps, the best tool to open up the vista…

Gopa Varma, a tourism management graduate lives in Bangkok and a keen adventure sports enthusiast.