Creating environmental awareness and awarding death penalty to poachers are essential if adventure tourism is to succeed in India, Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhary has said.

"There is a need to introduce capital punishment to deter poachers" to avoid a repeat of what happened in Rajasthan's Sariska sanctuary where no tigers are to be found today, Choudhary said here Saturday night at the launch of Hyderabad-based Country Club (I) Ltd's foray into adventure tourism.

"There is need to create more awareness about wildlife for protection of animals and promotion of adventure tourism. To realise the growth potential of adventure tourism, environment awareness should be (created)," Choudhary asserted.

She cited the example of Australia and South Africa, where protection of wildlife and bio-diversity is a major focus.

Capitalising on the growing trend of adventure tourism, the Rs.2.5 billion turnover Country Club announced plans of stepping up investments within the country and overseas to create getaways for its over 150,000 members.

The listed company's foray into adventure tourism is being marked by the opening of the first wildlife property Country Club Bush-Betta around three kilometers from the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. Including the new property, CCIL currently has 16 holiday resorts in the country.

Country Club chairman and managing director Y. Rajeev Reddy said the company was acquiring property in Ooty and Kodaikannal, as also in Shimla and other parts of Himachal Pradesh, "to capitalize on the wildlife tourism potential which is just emerging as a holiday concept in India".

Also on the cards is an Rs.1 billion project for creating an entire tourism village in Goa.

Country Club, which is a closely held company of the Amrutha Group with 50 percent of the equity held by the promoter family, has set up a separate company - Country Vacations - to manage the adventure tourism brand for expansion in the country and overseas through franchises and alliances.

--Indo-Asian News Service