December 04 , 2013

With the number of firms operating adventure tourism mushrooming in the country, the government has introduced a new provision to bring such enterprises under the scanner.

A new regulation unveiled by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation seeks firms operating adventure activities like canyoning, caving, fun park, bungy jumping, zip flying, rock climbing, mountaineering, and cable car, among others to seek license from the Tourism Industry Division.

As per the directive, companies applying for the license need to submit feasibility study report, details and map of the place where the business is to be operated including landownership or agreement certificate, citizenship and bio-data of shareholders, copies of company registration and industry registration certificate and prospectus, report of Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and documents related to insurance, among others.

The division has fixed license fee (valid for five years) and renewal fee depending on the type of business. For Fun Park with cable car the government has fixed Rs 75,000 as license fee and Rs 35,000 as renewal fee, while for bungee jumping license fee and renewal fee has been fixed at Rs 40,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively. Similarly, license and renewal fee for canyoning has been fixed at Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively. License fee of Rs 50,000 and renewal fee of Rs 25,000 have been fixed for cable car, amusement park and fun park.