ATOAI participated in the National Summit on Developing Sustainable & Responsible Tourist Destinations and Responsible Traveler Campaign India
ATOAI participated in the National Summit on Developing Sustainable & Responsible Tourist Destinations and Responsible Traveler Campaign to celebrate World Environment Day 2022 organized by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) held yesterday, 4th June 2022.The event was attended by ATOAI Hon. Secretary, Mr. Vinayak Koul, Imm. Past President Capt. Swadesh Kumar and Executive Committee Member Mr. Nirat Bhatt on 4th June 2022 at Hotel Ashok, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi.
Hon. Secretary, Mr. Vinayak Koul was one of the speakers for the session on “Bringing Sustainability in Adventure and Ecotourism”. Mr. Koul showcased industry practices highlighting sustainability in Adventure and Ecotourism.
The first Indian & the first Asian parent–child duo to complete “Seven Summits”
Ajeet Bajaj & Deeya Bajaj have become the first Indian & the first Asian parent-child duo to complete “Seven Summits”, which entails summiting the highest mountains on all seven continents. The duo summited Mount Denali (North America) on June 5 this year marking the last summit of their “Seven Summits” effort. The Seven Summits ie summiting Everest in Asia, Aconcagua in South America, Denali in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Vinson in Antarctica, and Kosciuszko in Australia is considered an exceptional mountaineering challenge, first achieved in 1985 by Richard Bass, an American mountaineer.
Ajeet & Deeya summited Mount Everest in 2018 making them first Indian Parent-Child duo to have accomplished this. They are also the first parent-child team in the world to have climbed Mount Everest from the harder North side. Ajeet & Deeya are also the first Indians to have traversed Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe and to have skied across the Greenland ice cap from the west to the east coast near the Arctic Circle.
Deeya is one of the youngest persons in the world to ski over 600 kms across the Greenland ice cap. Deeya is a PADI-certified rescue scuba diver, and a keen white-water and sea kayaker. She has completed her advanced course in mountaineering from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi and was given the best trainee award for her NIM Course. She is a Dean’s list graduate from Cornell University, an Ivy League College, and is at present pursuing an MBA degree from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, also an Ivy League College.
Ajeet Bajaj, a premier Indian adventurer and explorer, is one of the few in the world to have completed the Explorer’s Grand Slam which entails skiing to both ends of the earth ie the North Pole & the South Pole as well as climbing the Seven Summits. Ajeet is the first Indian to have completed the Polar Trilogy which entails skiing to the North Pole, to the South Pole and skiing across Greenland and he is also the first Asian to have rafted and kayaked some of the most challenging rivers of the world spanning six continents. Ajeet has won a bronze medal in the national games and one silver and two bronze medals in international rafting championships in Switzerland and Siberia, Russia. He has done first descents of a number of rivers and is considered a pioneer of river rafting, kayaking, expedition skiing and sea kayaking in India. Ajeet Bajaj was conferred the Padma Shri in 2012 by the President of India. He has also been felicitated with the ‘Hall of Fame’ award by the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India and the ‘Hall of fame’ by the “Indian Association of Tour Operators’. Ajeet was invited to participate in the Champions of Change Event with the Prime Minister of India in August 2017.
The key to success is consistent tenacity; no mountain is climbed in a day. The AWC has been steadily chipping away at the metaphorical mountain in order to reach its objective.
