Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Home-stays: the next big tourism leap Tourism Trail

Welcome gesture: One of the houses readied for home-stay at Pettah in the capital city.

Thiruvananthapuram: It is the quality of accommodation available at a tourist destination that contributes to the overall satisfaction and pleasure of a traveller. Home-stays are turning out to be of much help to the burgeoning tourism industry, which is facing severe shortage of hotel rooms with Kerala emerging as a 365-day tourist destination.

Even though the State has 50,000 rooms for tourist accommodation in different categories, it has been found that there are only less than 10,000 rooms of quality. It is estimated that the tourism industry is facing a shortage of 20,000 rooms during the tourist season. Minister for Tourism Kodiyeri Balakrishnan says there is need for 6,000 more rooms in the home-stay sector in the next five years to cater to peak season tourist arrivals.

Taking into account the average investment needed for developing a hotel or resort is Rs.20 lakh a room, the investment needed in the accommodation sector in the next five years is estimated to be to the tune of over Rs.3000 crore.

As home-stays generate good income with minimal investment, the Government is depending on them to increase capacity of hotel rooms. Sensing the importance of home-stays, Kerala Tourism has kicked off Kerala Home-stays’ project to bring the traditional way of life and its values to the tourists.

The project aims at conservation of local culture and natural heritage while ensuring additional income and employment to local people.

Selection of home-stays is based on the location of the house and surroundings in terms of hygiene and facilities being offered and education and professional background of the applicant and family members.

Individuals or families who own a good house and can spare at least one room for the tourists can join the project. The owner along with the family should stay in the unit for securing classification.

Proximity to a tourist destination and presence of at least one of English-speaking family member will also be taken into account in the classification of the home-stays being done by District Tourism Promotion Councils.

Through the scheme, Kerala Tourism aims at making available unused rooms in palatial houses, farm houses and heritage homes for tourists with minimal improvements in infrastructure and accommodation.

Though there are excellent home-stays, many more families have come forward to share their homes with tourists and to secure classification.

The Ex-Servicemen Tourism Development Organisation has the largest number of home-stays in the State. Director, Kerala Tourism, Sanjay Kaul says

“Already 517 home-stays have been granted classification by the department. The aim is to rope in 1,000 home-stays in the next one year and to classify them.” Mr. Kaul says efforts are on to brand home-stays and to aggressively market them.

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