Thrillophilia, a site dedicated to adventure travel in India, looks at new trends emerging in the Indian domestic travel market. People are today more willing to go off-tracks and venture into new experiences according to their findings.
BANGALORE- The days of family vacations in India at a nice hill station, with shopping on mallroads, and taking back souvenirs for friends back home seem to be changing. Recent studies in the travel segment in India seem to suggest that Indians are taking to adventure travel in a big way.
Thrillophilia, the largest adventure travel aggregator in India, has registered a 400% growth in its numbers on a year-on-year basis.Thrillophilia was founded in 2010, and for the second consecutive year the company posted a 400% annual growth.
When asked about a plausible reason behind the shift in Indian travel tastes, Abhishek Daga, Co-Founder of Thrillophilia said, “The Indian travel industry is following global cues. In the last decade, adventure travel has been the fastest growing travel segment globally. In 2000, adventure travel accounted for just 7% of global tourism. In 2009, the number had risen to 20%.” Globally, the adventure travel segment is worth US$ 142 billion with India generating US$ 2 billion on its own.
Seeing the change in trends and looking to make a niche in the segment, resorts around India have started offering adventure activities in and around the destinations they are located in. For example, when travellers plan to go on a Himachal tour and book a stay in a Manali resort, the package is most likely to include paragliding, zorbing and other adventure activities.
Rising interest in adventure travel in India is further strengthened by vendors with other less-known destinations reporting a surge in traffic.Stanzin Tsering, the owner of a guesthouse in Ladakh, says, “In the last two years or so,we have seen more number of tourists visiting Ladakh than ever before. The rise in numbers is as much as 200%. I guess people have become bored of the usual holiday experiences.” About 5 years ago, nobody would have thought of Ladakh as a destination for holiday,but today, people are ready to explore more off-beat destinations in India.
Abhishek Daga quips, “In the near future, adventure will not only be limited to Rishikesh rafting or a scuba diving trip to the Andaman Islands, but it will diversify into different streams. Already, we are seeing a surge in luxury adventure travel, and as people get more comfortable with the idea, they are bound to explore other segments too within the segment.”
Given the fact that the Indian travel industry is still in its infancy, with the online travel industry growing at 32% annually, the opportunities for businesses in the adventure travel space are huge.
Thrillophilia Adventure Travel is the biggest online aggregator of adventure travel in India. It caters to every adventure activity possible ranging from Trekking in Himalaya to adventure activities in North Eastern India, from camel safari in Rajasthan to a cycling tour in Kerala Tour. Launched in 2010 by ISB and IIT(BHU) Varanasi alumni, Thrillophilia aims to provide one stop solution for any sort of adventure activity in India.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
