Thailand Top Adventure Travel Country For Indians
- 22 Dec, 2014
- Travel Trends Today
A recent study released by Active Holiday Company, together with The Outdoor Journal, on the size, travelling habits and preferences of India’s Adventure Travel Market indicated that Thailand is the most preferred country for adventure tourism out of India.
Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand – Mumbai office said, "This is a matter of great pride for Thailand. Thailand’s varied landscapes – pristine beaches, mighty rivers, overpowering mountains, rolling plains and heavenly rainforests dotted with breathtaking waterfalls – offer a great deal of outdoorsy experiences to adventure-seeking travellers.”
Gauri Jayaram, Founder, Active Holiday Company explained, "For this study we looked at adventurous experiences rather than independent adventurous activities fitted into holidays. We defined an adventure holiday as one where a major chunk of time is devoted to a physical activity or to time in natural surroundings, or to cultural learnings and interaction. It is no surprise that Thailand had an edge.”
Other interesting findings in the study include the fact that two-thirds of adventure tourists are male, 71 per cent are married, nearly 60 per cent have kids and 62 per cent are full-time employees at various levels including top management. It seems to suggest that adventure tourists are perhaps wealthier, older and better educated than other categories of tourists.
"Thailand makes an amazing variety of nature-driven experiences possible, such as canoeing, kayaking, surfing, sailing, camping, scuba diving, snorkelling, hiking, trekking, rock-climbing, paragliding and rafting. Experiences that the Indian market is yet to catch up with such as fishing and bird-watching are also possible in Thailand – in fact, during September we have a shellfishing and birdwatching festival in Cha-Am near Hua Hin! Besides this, cultural interaction with northern Thailand’s hilltribes via homestays and voluntourism is a tourist experience that travellers from India are becoming very interested in. A small segment of Indian travellers also choose to explore some destinations like Ayyuthaya, Kanchanaburi and Chiang Mai on a bicycle. Some really experienced adventure travellers go mountain biking in Chiang Rai,” added Homchuen.