Nepalese Adventure Businesses Refine Safety and Risk Management Practices

1 December 2015
Translate
Educator Gordon Janow [left] with AdventureEDU participants.
Educator Gordon Janow [left] with AdventureEDU participants.
On October 31, 2015, the city of Kathmandu, Nepal hosted a one-day AdventureEDU training event sponsored by Tourism Cares, Samarth-Nepal, and the Adventure Travel Trade Association, in conjunction with AdventureWeek Rebound Nepal on the GHT.  The course, Adventure Travel Operator Safety and Risk Management was taught by EDU Educator, Gordon Janow, with ATTA President Shannon Stowell opening the event and attending the session. Approximately 50 Nepalese tour operators, activity providers, accommodation, and members from the Nepal Tourism Board attended the event held at the Hotel Yak & Yeti hotel.
AdventureEDU Nepal participant group shot.
AdventureEDU Nepal participant group shot.

This was a hands on course where the actual work, assessment and “action plan by activity” were all completed in the classroom, allowing each company to start a full risk management plan that they could execute on immediately.

Participants receive AdventureEDU certificates upon completion of the course.
Participants receive AdventureEDU certificates upon completion of the course.

Gordon Janow explains that the training in Kathmandu “really brought the idea of risk management to an audience, who for the most part was unfamiliar with the concept. We were able to have participants apply metrics to the level of risk and consequence of accident for the activities they offer. In fact, each outfitter had to list possible risks for a given trip they offer and discuss each of those at length before applying risk level and consequence. One example of risk would be trekking at altitude and how to best prepare trekkers, assess them, when to take action in a situation, and what action should be taken. This involved much discussion of when to ask trekkers to alter their trip (not proceed higher) for safety reasons but still have their experience be rewarding.”

“As someone who was entering the tourism industry and trying to formalize a standard operating procedure in my company, I found the lessons taught in this session to be useful. Being in the adventure tourism market, it is truly important to understand how to create a proper safety management system and be able to do risk analysis on the different activities. The Adventure EDU session provided me with some of these methods which I can apply to my business.”

- Sonia Miyahara, Sales & Marketing Director, Trans Himalayan Tour (P) Ltd.


Participants worked in groups and asked questions, with many businesses sharing at the end of the day that the training was “exactly what they needed ” – not only were they impressed with the practical content and the delivery, it also helped them to establish better procedures in their business.
“Thank you to the team for organizing such a useful event on Safety and Risk Management in Kathmandu, Nepal. The event was indeed very useful for tour operators like us to improve our safety management and skills to build up confidence of the destination’s safety. The matter of safety of travelers has always been the top priority matter and through this event we learned many important points to act on. We will  do our best to implement these learnings in the days to come and also share with our team members – especially with our guides and porters who are the backbone of every adventurous trips. We hope  ATTA will organize many more events in Kathmandu in the future. Looking forward to be a part of more useful events!

- Sangita Bajracharya, Managing Director, Himalayan Namobuddha Travel & Treks


Participants sharing ideas and challenges during a coffee break.
Participants sharing ideas and challenges during a coffee break.

Later in the day, participants had the opportunity to attend an ATTA networking event, AdventureConnect, also hosted at the Yak & Yeti, where local tour operators, media, and tourism board staff were able to meet with and pitch story ideas to ATTA President Shannon Stowell, as well as the 20 AdventureWeek Rebound Nepal participants– media and specialized tour operators from around the world.

The beautiful AdventureEDU venue at Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu.
The beautiful AdventureEDU venue at Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu.

All participants received a certificate of completion for participating in the Safety and Risk Management training, as well as an e-badge for their website, and course materials to be used as reference in their business.

AdventureEDU now offers three courses through the online education platform, Udemy.

For more information on AdventureEDU, including pricing and customization for your destination, please click here.

Comments