Sunday Reading
New
Delhi, 26 May 2009
Tourism Industry
OPENING HOME TO TOURISTS
By Radhakrishna Rao
The concept of home stay is slowly
but surely gaining popularity in the tourism industry. It could be explained as
a fall out of the cultural and ecological degradation associated with the
conventional sightseeing and leisure industry. Not only is home stay more
affordable in comparison to an accommodation in a rated hotel, but exerts less
pressure on the environment around. Besides, it also makes for a far more
enjoyable and memorable experience.
According to industry wizards, the
concept of home stay is rapidly catching up in India and is becoming popular with
both the domestic and international tourists. With business looking good, by
the end of the year, a big tourist company is planning to bring in around 1,000
houses across the country into the “home stay” network. The concept will offer
a unique package of a vast range of activities ranging from yoga, ayurvedic
treatments and massages, backwater rafting in Kerala to exploring tiger trails
in Periyar tiger reserve.
In the gorgeously beautiful Kodagu (formerly
known as Coorg) district of Karnataka, known for its magnificent mountain
ranges, bubbling water streams and flourishing coffee plantations and orange
orchards, many enterprising coffee planters, who have inherited ethnically
vibrant traditional houses, have entered into the home stay business in a big
way by making use of their assets.
Similarly, in the historically-vibrant
north-western Rajasthan, former princely rulers dotting this desert State have
converted their sprawling and beautiful palaces and residences into
heritage home stays. Not to be left behind “God’s Own Country” as the ever-green
Kerala is known in the tourist blurb has popularised the home stays in a big
way by falling back on the bounties of nature.
Significantly, many small farmers in
the hilly Waynad, in northern part of Kerala have taken to home stay following
crop failures in the region. In fact, the extra income they now earn has helped
them see through the bad days. The popularisation of home stay here is thanks
to the sustained efforts’ made by local non-profit organization called Uravu,
which in Malaylam stands for spring.
As part of its plan Uravu has
adopted a village, Thrikkaipet, where farmers are being encouraged to convert a
part of their houses for home stay “Our
aim is to make the village a self- sustaining one as through home stays, a
large part of the income goes to the locals. A visitor here will be the guest
of the village” says Uravu’s T. Sivraj. Significantly, tourists from Europe
including Italy, Switzerland, Germany
and France
have merged as patrons of home stays in this non-descript village in the
mountainous north Kerala.
Way back in 2002, the ice-covered
Ladakh entered the home stay map with the active encouragement of California-based
Snow Leopard Conservancy, an organisation that strives for conservation of
natural resources through the active involvement of the local community. Before
home stay was introduced, tourists used to travel to Leh and make day trips to
Ladakh. However, with the home stay gaining in popularity, travelers to this
once forbidden icy region can explore the ravishing beauty of the region by
going in for home stays. And for the local population the change is more than
welcome as it implies additional income from a booming tourism industry.
In Palghat district of Kerala, known
as the rice bowl of the State, many traditional houses standing in the midst of
flourishing paddy fields have been converted into home stays which offer local
culinary delights and cultural programmes for both the Indian and foreign
tourists. Similarly, a once unknown island village off Kochi
in Central Kerala has become a thriving
tourist destination following the introduction of Home stay.
Interestingly, local fishermen in
the village of Kumbalangi run home stays with a high
degree of professional acumen. These home stays offer not only local delicacies,
but also an insight into the local way of living and culture. Initially, the
locals were skeptical of tourism, but it has clicked, according to the Great
Indian Tourism Planners and Consultants International.
Apparently, even well-heeled
tourists who normally prefer to stay in star hotels are now plumping for home
stays, for “the heck of it”. A spokesperson of the travel and leisure industry says
that home stay has now become one of the biggest crowd pullers, making it one
of the most dynamic sector of the travel industry. Home stays were earlier
popular with foreign tourists but nowadays there has been a huge interest
evinced even by Indians too” says Mayura Balasubramaniam, a project support
officer for tourism programme with the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP). The UNDP has tied up with Tourism Ministry to promote rural tourism in
36 villages across 20 States.
Apparently, home stays vary from the
so-called basic home stays with a rural family or a tribal hamlet for Rs.100 a
night to luxury or heritage stays within havelis, mansions or plantations and
estates, the charge for which is anything above Rs 5000. In addition, there are
around 10,000 home stays with an environmental theme.
The benefits of home stays clearly
include staying with the locals (owners of the property), eating local cuisine
and taking part in various traditional and cultural activities including
mehandi artistry and weaving coil baksets etc. As of now, Kerala, Karnataka,
Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan are in the forefront of popularizing home stays
in the country. The change is also an indication that these days most urban
middle class and upper class Indians are aware and well-traveled. They want to
experience their own country.
The bewitching beautiful Indonesian island of Bali, known for its magnificent Hindu
temples and ravishingly beautiful beaches promoted home stays in a big way in the
90s, following an outcry over the negative cultural and environmental fall out
of the traditional tourism.
Despite the global recession and
fear of terrorist attacks, home stays in the country are moving from strength-to-strength.
Kerala is one such example. The Indians go there mainly during October, April, May
and December. And, surprisingly, the tourist industry there saw more than
double the number of domestic tourists, after Mumbai mayhem. Not surprisingly
then the Tourism department of Kerala as part of its plan to promote
responsible tourism in the stay is encouraging the home stays in a big way. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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