1) North Bengal has great potential for adventure tourism due to its diverse geography and natural landscapes. Popular adventure activities include trekking, river rafting, cycling, and rock climbing. 2) However, adventure tourism in North Bengal faces challenges such as poor infrastructure, lack of publicity and planning, and short tourist seasons in hills. Deforestation and lack of preservation of ancient sites also hamper growth. 3) The document analyzes opportunities and challenges for adventure tourism in North Bengal and suggests improving infrastructure, diversifying activities, and better promotion to realize its potential to boost the local economy.

1. SALESIAN COLLEGE SILIGURI

2. ADVENTURE TOURISM IN
NORTH BENGAL
OPPORUNITIES AND
CHALLENGES

3. INTRODUCTION
 Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the
business of attracting, accommodating and entertaining tourists, in business of operating
tours.WTO(World Tourism Organization) defines tourism more generally, in terms which goes
beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activities only.
Tourism remains one of the largest employers’ accounting for 9% of global GDP and accounts
for one in every 11 jobs. Tourism is practice of travelling for pleasure on once holiday. It is
an organized journey during with several places are visited.

4. TOURISM IN INDIA
Table-1: Showing the Important Facts about Indian Tourism, 2015
No. of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India
Annual Growth Rate
8.03 Million
4.5%
No. of Indian Nationals Departures from India
Annual Growth Rate
20.38 Million
11.1%
No. of Domestic Tourist Visits to all States/Uts
Annual Growth Rate
1432 Million
11.6%
Foreign Exchange Earnings from Tourism
In INR Terms
Annual Growth Rate
In US$ Terms
Annual Growth Rate
135193 Cr.
9.6%
US $ 21.07 Billion
4.1%

5. Table-2: Showing India’s Position in Asia & the Pacific Region
Share of India in International Tourist Arrivals 2.88%
India’s rank in International Tourist Arrivals 11th
Share of India in International Tourism Receipts (US $ terms) 5.03%
India’s rank in International Tourism Receipts 7th

6. YEAR FTA IN INDIA (IN
MILLION)
PERCNETAGE(%)
CHANGE OVERV
THE PREVIOUS
YEAR
1999 2.48 5.2
2000 2.65 6.7
2001 2.54 -4.2
2002 2.38 -6.0
2003 2.73 14.3
2004 3.46 26.8
2005 3.92 13.3
2006 4.45 13.5
2007 5.08 14.3
2008 5.28 4.0
2009 5.17 -2.2
2010 5.78 11.8
2011 6.31 9.2
2012 6.58 4.3
2013 6.97 5.9
2014 7.68 10.2
2015 8.03 4.5
2016(JAN-
JUNE)
4.19 8.9
Table-3: Showing Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India, 1999-2016 (till June)

7. 2.48
2.65 2.54
2.38
2.73
3.46
3.92
4.45
5.08
5.28 5.17
5.78
6.31
6.58
6.97
7.68
8.03
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Fig.1: Showing the Foreign Tourist arrival in India, 1999-2015

8. Table-4: Showing Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs), in US$ million, from Tourism in
India, 1999-2016 (till June)
YEAR REVENUE FROM
TOURISM IN INDIA
(US$ MILLION)
Percentage Change
over the Previous
Year
1999 3009 2.1
2000 3460 15.0
2001 3198 -7.6
2002 3103 -3.0
2003 4463 43.8
2004 6170 38.2
2005 7493 21.4
2006 8634 15.2
2007 10729 24.3
2008 11832 10.3
2009 11136 -5.9
2010 14193 27.5
2011 16564 16.7
2012 17737 7.1
2013 18445 4.0
2014 20236 9.7
2015 21071 4.1
2016(JAN-JUNE) 10865 6.5

9. 0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Fig.2: Showing the Foreign Exchange Earnings,1999-2015

10. ADVENTURE TOURISM:
 Adventure tourism is a travel to remote area, where the traveler should expect the
unexpected. Adventure tourism has grown exponentially worldwide over the past few years.
Tourists explore new destinations looking for rare, incomparable experiences. Adventure
tourism can be of two type:
 Domestic Adventure Tourism
 International Adventure Tourism
 The “Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA)” defines adventure tourism as a trip that
includes following three elements:
 Physical Activity,
 Natural Environment
 Cultural Immersion.

11.  Adventure tourism is :
 Resilient
 Support local economies
 Attract high value customer
 Encourage sustainable practice .
 Adventure activities can be localized in a particular place or could be extended over a region
defined across a district in a particular state or across states.
 “Thompson Rivers University” describes adventure tourists as, “explorers of both an outer world,
especially the unspoiled, exotic parts of our planet and an inner world of personal challenge, self
perception and self mastery.” Adventure tourists may be motivated to achieve mental states
characterized as rush or flow, resulting from stepping outside of their comfort zone.

12.  Adventure tourism may include following activities:
 Mountaineering
 Trekking
 Bungee Jumping
 Mountain Biking
 River Rafting
 Paragliding
 Hiking
 Caving
 Rock Climbing
 Adventure is identified in terms of two main categories:
 Hard Adventure
 Soft Adventure
Both activities are highly profitable segments.

13. HARD ADVENTURE
 “Hard adventures tend to involve more physically demanding activities and specialized training,” Hard
adventure includes:
 Trekking
 River Rafting
 Climbing (Mountain, Rock and Ice)
 Cycling.
 These activities are high risk and require a high level of specialized skill. Unsurprisingly, these
represented small percentages of the population but still uncovered a sizable market.

14. SOFT ADVENTURE
 “Soft adventures tend to involve less physically demanding activities and specialized training,” It
is a sort of travel experience that goes beyond the usual. Rewarding for the spirit and the
intellect, but safe and without excessive physical demands. ‘Soft’ adventure – which is where the
most promising growth lies – blends physical adventures with such enriching activities as agro-
tourism and wildlife viewing by day.
Table- 5: Showing the Major Soft Adventure tourism Destinations in North Bengal
Destination Main Attraction
Darjeeling (Tiger hill) Sightseeing
Darjeeling (PadmajaNaidu Himalayan Zoological
Park)
Wildlife viewing
Mirik (Sumendu Lake) Boating and Sightseeing

15. 1. Types of Hard Adventures:
1.1. TREKKING:
Trekking is combination of hiking and walking activity in which people take multiday trips in rural
and undeveloped areas. In other words trekking is making a journey or trip on foot specially to
hike through mountainous areas often for multiple days and along lovely mountains villages and
enjoying nature or close contact with people in remote mountain villages and enjoying natures
where living style sometimes unchanged since many generations.
Trekking can be of two types:
a) Camping Trek
b) Tea House Trek

16. A. CAMPING TREK:
In camping trek the trekker will carry all the thing required for trek from that place where all the
necessary items are available. All things (all food items and tent for sleeping) will be always with
the trekkers during trek trips.
B. TEA HOUSE TREK:
Tea house trekking are local lodges where you get to eat and sleep during your trek. Going on a tea
house trek means that you will sleep on these types of accommodations. Tea house will provide
bedding and food. The quality of the tea house depends. But can be quit basic. The cost of stay at
tea house depends on remoteness and altitude of the place together with standard of the room’s
services it provides.

17. 1.2 .. RIVER RAFTING:
 River Rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or
other body of water. This is often done on white-water or different degrees of rough water, and generally
represents a new and challenging environment for participants. Dealing with risk and the need for
teamwork is often a part of the experience. White water rafting in Tista was introduced in Darjeeling hills
more than a decade earlier and has gained tremendous popularity since then. Several private
organizations along with DGHC(Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council) tourism have set up rafting facilities.
However some precautions has to be taken during these programs such as:-
 Persons suffering from weak heart conditions, epilepsy, expecting mothers and those with serious
ailments are not permitted to rafting.
 Alcohol is not permitted at least six hours prior to the river trip
 Non-swimmers are welcome to rafting but may be restricted to certain sections of the river, on the
advice of the river guide.
 All guests are required to sign ‘assumption of risk and release’ bond before undertaking the trip.

18. 1.3. CYCLING:
Cycling tourism is on the rise across the world, with an increasing number of adventure tourists
embarking on both road and mountain biking tours, participating in cycling events such as Ride the
Rockies events like the Tour de France. Good physical fitness is a must for cycling. The most common
routes include Dooars and Darjeeling etc.

19. 1.4. CLIMBING:
 Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to climb on object (Rock
or Ice). It is done recreationally, competitively, in trades that rely on it, and in emergency rescue and
military operations. It is done indoors and out, on natural and manmade structures.
 Climbing are of many type but two are the most preferable:
 Rock Climbing
 Ice Climbing

20. A. Rock Climbing: It is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock
formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of
a usually pre-defined route without falling. Professional Rock climbing competitions have the
objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point
on an increasingly difficult route.
B. Ice Climbing: Ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls,
frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water.
For the purposes of climbing, ice can be broadly divided into two spheres:
 Alpine Ice
 Water Ice
 Alpine Ice: It is found in a mountain environment, usually requires an approach to reach, and is
often climbed in an attempt to summit a mountain.
 Water Ice: Water ice is usually found on a cliff or other outcropping beneath water flows.

21. OPPORTUNITIES:
 North Bengal, is blessed with magnificent geographical and natural locations, is the wonderful location for
the adventures activities for the tourists. There are plenty of adventures destinations and landscape
locations, which are enough to provide an opportunity to engage in adventures.
Varieties of locations like:
I) Landscape
II) Mountains
III) Adventure with river.
These locations attract tourists and visitors for an adventures tour in North Bengal.
The hotspot for adventure tourism in North Bengal are as follows:
I) TREKKING
II) RIVER RAFTING
III) WILD LIFE SAFARI
IV) MOUNTANEERING .
These spots are one of the most preferred destinations in the North Bengal for its unique specialty and locations.

22. It has a vast geographical richness, which consists of every types of adventures activities in itself. Whether
it is Mountaineering, Trekking, cycling etc., there a number of destinations located here.
CYCLING is another adventures activity, which enchants visitors and in North Bengal. Darjeeling provides a
glorious site, where one can experience the adventures of Cycling. White water River Rafting which also
enchants the tourists who like to flow against the wave of water with full of risks and danger. A part from
this adventure tourism provide employment opportunities to many local peoples. It is also beneficial for
the local peoples.

23. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
 The Adventure Tourism Career Sampler is an informal and interactive series of activities. It
is designed to guide the adventure tourists through a series of experiences which will build
up their basic knowledge and skills, and provide insights into the issues related to it.
Tourists will be better informed about this area of tourism and take a better decision for
choosing their destination.
 To explore the potential avenues for adventure tourism in North Bengal
 To identify the pitfalls coming in the way of development of adventure tourism in North Bengal
and
 To suggest remedial measures in order to overcome the problems in order to ensure the roadmap
for the road ahead.

24. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
1) Physical Isolation and Inaccessibility
2) Unplanned Tourist Spots
3) Insufficient Infrastructural and Facilities
4) Problem of Currency Conversion
5) Cheating Habit of Internal Transport
6) Information Gap
7) Short Tourist Season in the Hills
8) Lack of Diversification, and Planning of new Tourist Spots- Under Utilization
9) Lack of Proper Publicity
10) Rapid Deforestation
11) Lack of Preservation of Ancient Sites

25. METHODOLOGY
 The study mainly targeted the tourist from various parts and destinations that undertake “adventure
tourism” activities in “North Bengal”.
The data/information which are mentioned above all are secondary data and are collected from various
sources.
CONCLUSION
 North Bengal is having immense diversity in geographical conditions and nature and hence there are
immense opportunities for tourists of domestic and foreign origin to practice various kinds of adventure
activity in North Bengal. In North Bengal adventure tourism activity like:-Trekking, River Rafting,
climbing(rock &ice) cycling, sightseeing, wildlife viewing is practiced. Various adventure tour operators
providing adventure tourism activities to tourists. Adventure tourism is growing day by day in North Bengal.
Most of the activities are practice in Darjeeling and Dooars. Tourism is also beneficial for the local
livelihood.