Chennai: The profile of adventure travellers seems to change contradicting the belief that only those in the 20s prefer adventure during holidaying. Nearly 48 % of the adventure travellers are around 36 years of age and there is increasing trend among women to go solo.
With the market size of adventure tourism accounting for 18.35 per cent for Tamil Nadu out of the entire market size of Rs 1,1772 crore for the country. Tamil Nadu has tremendous potential to welcome the adventure buffs all through the year. As per the latest survey carried out by tourism ministry, TN had received on an average of 3,000 to 5,500 tourists per month while AP topped the list of the States in India.
Adventure tourism destinations in TN include: Nilgiris, Ooty, Annamalai, Elagiri, Siruvani, Topslip, Perumalmalai, Manapad, Muttukadu, Mudaliarkuppam and Yelagiri. The activities include: trekking, camping, hang-gliding, hiking, paragliding, angling, cycling and water sports.
“Adventure tourism is a niche tourism activity involving exploration or travel to remote area, where the traveller should expect the unexpected. Adventure tourism has grown exponentially worldwide over the past few years. Tourists explore new destinations looking for rare, incomparable experiences,” a senior tourism official said.
Citing a global survey on the behavioural patterns of adventure travellers, the tourism official said that about 43 % of the adventure lovers are ladies and 48 % are single travellers with average age of 36 years. As compared to other travel segments, 69% of the adventure travellers research online and about 75% do not go to a travel agent for advice or booking.
