The Union Tourism Ministry on Wednesday said that it has formulated a model law on adventure tourism which covers the obligations, institutional framework, penalties, registration and the provisions of insurance cover needed for the sector.
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The draft law has been circulated to all States and Union Territories for feedback, Union Tourism Secretary V. Vidyavathi said.
The model law is part of the National Strategy for Adventure Tourism formulated by the Ministry which has also constituted a National Board for Adventure Tourism to guide the operationalization and implementation of the strategy.
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Adventure tourism is considered a sunshine sector for India based on its significant geographical advantages like 70% of the Himalayas and 7,000 km of coastline. India is also among one of the three countries of the world with both hot and cold deserts, and ranks 10th in total area under forest cover and 6th in terms of UNESCO natural heritage sites.
Ms. Vidyavathi, who was addressing a session on the second day of the Indian Tourism Mart in Shillong, Meghalaya said that the development of tourism in the North East should take into account the sensitive ecosystem of the region.
She said that the region offers huge geographical diversity, which provides great scope for adventure tourism and urged the North Eastern States to proactively participate in the endeavour to strengthen safety for undertaking adventure sports activities in the country including the North East.