Expert Speak: Gerald Samuel Duia, General Secretary – Tour Operators Association of Meghalaya (TOAM) and General Secretary – Tour Guides Association of Meghalaya, Central Body (TGAM, CB)

In his interaction with FinancialExpress.com, Gerald Samuel Duia, Founder & Proprietor, Duia Trailblazers, talked about how his company promotes the Meghalayan Age experience for its guests. This includes a focus on culture and heritage, adventure, as well as ecotourism. Guests get an opportunity to go to villages and interact with local people. This gives them an authentic experience of Meghalaya. 

Meghalaya has a very interesting and varied terrain, he emphasised, including waterfalls, rivers, caves and so on. While the rivers are very technical and ripe for adventure, offering activities like whitewater rafting as well as whitewater kayaking, caving is one of the most exciting adventure activities offered by Meghalaya, not to mention zip lining and bungee jumping. 

Mr Duia highlighted the fact that scuba diving in a river is only available in Meghalaya and is a first for India. He also spoke about the huge scope of adventure tourism in Meghalaya as well as the fact that all safety guidelines are followed properly. These are guidelines that have been formulated by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India as well as by ATOAI. He also requested ATOAI to bring caving and canyoning into the ambit of safety guidelines. Currently no guidelines exist for these activities in India. As for bungee jumping, the New Zealand standards are being followed in Meghalaya, he said.  

On a personal front, he said he is in love with canyoning and caving and Meghalaya is the only state which offers a unique opportunity to experience these activities. 

If you try caving once, chances are you might get hooked for life, he said. However, it needs to be done under supervision and with proper guidance, he emphasised. 

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