With the mushrooming of tour operators and a large number of individuals organising tours for family members and friends, the government should come out with stringent norms and inspections to ensure safety of the passengers, say tour operators here.
Several individuals organise group tours and they also try to make it cost-effective. In most cases there is no proper planning. The Tourism, Forest, and Highways Departments should come up with norms and inspections, asking for permits, number of people travelling, checkings, etc., says K. Chandran of Emperor Traveline, who is in the sector for the last four decades.
Most of the adventure tours are in the unorganised segment. Hence, the organiser does not get the required approvals. The organiser himself is unaware of the requirements, he points out. Similarly, there are several group travels where the elderly and children travel in a same vehicle. Both their needs should be taken care of. He points out how in the case of overseas travels, his company organises pre-departure meetings, gives guidelines to the travellers, takes all precautionary measures. There is no such organised system for domestic travels.
According to A. Dharmaraj, Chief Operating Officer at Pricol Travels, there are many who look at online packages and decide on the places to visit. They should take guidance from the tour operators whether it will be the right package and the right time to visit a place. Not many operators ask for details of the travellers, such as their interests, age group, etc. Further, there are many who travel with budget restrictions and hence, compromise on some of the basic requirements.
The operators agree on the need for better awareness among travellers on planning a tour, especially long distance tours.
