Under the programme, government would package unexplored areas, soft adventure and eco-tourism as new and diversified product.

Inaugurating the 2nd Adventure Tour Operators Association (ATOA) convention here on Thursday the minister of state for tourism, Uma Bharati said that the government has already accepted creation of a new Adventure Tour Operator category as recommended by the ATOA.

Bharati also assured the association that the government would take up the issue of rationalisation of peak royalties that were very high with the Nepalese government. Presently, Nepal takes the major share of the mountaineering expeditions.

The two-day convention beginning December 9 of the adventure tourism is being attended by over 200 delegates from India and abroad.

The association has suggested that the government should declare peaks below 6500 metre as trekking peaks and it would help rationalise the royalties and attract more tourists to Himalayan region.

"The association has demanded that the protectionist policies as in practice in Arunachal Pradesh which charges $ 150 per person per day should be removed and be brought at par with other states where market forces determine the trekking and travelling schedules," the president of ATOA Swadesh Kumar said.

He also demanded that the licences for rafting should be valid for atleast five years instead of one year period of renewal.