12th ATOAI Annual Convention
12-14 February, 2016, Hanuwanthiya, Dist. Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh
The picturesque Hanuwanthiya Island, located in the reservoir of Indira Sagar Dam , a 4 hours journey by road was the venue for the 12th ATOAI Convention from 12th to 14th February 2016. On reaching the efficient team of ATOAI transported us to the convention location.
We reached Hanuwanthiya by 4 pm and were received by the MP tourism department who were the hosts for this convention and our tents were alloted. The climate was warm and the AC Swiss tents with attached toilet was of International standards and very comfortable and clean. The inauguration was in the evening at 5 pm in a specially constructed air-conditioned hangar.
The event was inaugurated by Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Hon. Chief Minister and Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development, Govt. of India, along with other dignitaries like Hon. State Minister (Tourism), Hon.Chairman MPTDC, MD, MPSTDC, AMD, MPSTDC and presidents of trade associations.
A special dinner arranged by the MP Tourism for the ATOAI delegates who had come from all over India, Nepal and other International destinations helped in great bonding and helped in getting to know the various activities the members could indulge in along with conference tracks.
Eminent speakers like Himmat Anand- Founder Tree of Life Resorts, Ajay Jain- Kunzum Travel (traveler and writer), Rohit Hangal – Sphere Media, Megh Bahadur Ale- Borderlands, Nepal, Dr. Pranab Patar- Earthwatch Institute India, Anand Sankar- Founder Kalap Foundation, Varun Suhag – Flyboy Aviation, Alistair Gunn Scott- Flying Fox, Brig. S P Singh- Jumpin Adventures, Sanjay Basu- Far Horizons and Anirudh Chaoji- Pugmark Tours had very interactive sessions which were of great relevance to the adventure tourism community.
For the first time, there were “Success Story Sessions” where some of the speakers like Chinmay Divekar and Gurpreet Dhindsa shared their wealth of knowledge and success story with the delegates. These sessions were very inspiring and informative.
Another interesting session was the B2B Networking session with all the participating delegates where everyone had a minute to introduce themselves and talk about their company and products was a well thought out and the participants could sit down and exchange thoughts, ideas and information with the fellow delegates.
The ATOAI Convention delegates took part in a lot of adventure activities such as Para-motoring, Banana rides, Hot Air Ballooning, Jet Ski, Para Sailing etc. which were available at the convention.
The highlight was the sunset cruise specially organised for the ATOAI convention delegates on MV Narmada commanded by Commander.Rajendra Nigam. Look forward the 13th ATOAI Convention, so long….
