manish kumar, post news network, Bhubaneswar, July 3: Banoj and Juhi Patra, a couple living in the city, has been toiling hard to transform their three-storey house in Ashok Nagar into a homestay establishment in order to provide a comfortable and homely accommodation to domestic and foreign tourists visiting the state.
Banoj, who has spent more than 20 years in the hospitality sector, has recently applied to the India Tourism Department, under the Union Ministry of Tourism for the Incredible India Bed and Breakfast (B&B) / Homestay Establishments scheme to provide homely stay to the tourists coming to Orissa.
“The concept of B&B is a very innovative scheme of the central government. This helps the visiting tourists to stay in the homes of some hosts, who have some accommodation facility for them. We have made around six rooms, especially dedicated to the guests who want to visit our state. We hope to get a certificate from the tourism department soon,” said Banoj.
“We have a collection of dhokra art, pattachitra paintings and other special art and craft at our house to give them a glimpse of our vibrant cultural and heritage. Meanwhile, antiques such as gramophone, old typewriter, old musical instruments, etc. are also there at my house, which we propose to display in a way that would depict the tale of old Oriya culture. All these would be part of the package offered to the visitors, in our proposed homestay establishment,” said Banoj.
Like Banoj and Juhi there are others from the state who are now jumping onto the bandwagon of those who want to transform their homes into guest houses, which can make the visiting tourists feel at home while far away from it.
According to officials of the Union tourism department, the concept of homestay establishments became popular during the Common Wealth Games in New Delhi when the national capital was grappling with the problems of the dearth of quality accommodations. Later on the plan to promote homestay facilities for tourists was extended to the whole of the nation.
India Tourism is entitled to do inspection of the proposed establishments before giving clearance certificates of starting these businesses. Officials from the India Tourism Department said the craze for letting out homestay establishment have surged in the last few years.
“In the last few years we have seen a surge in the number of applications from people who are keen to let out their houses for the purpose. Mostly, proposals from cities closer to tourist sites are coming to us. There are set guidelines, which these establishments need to follow. If they abide by these, they get the go ahead from our department for commencing their hospitality business,” said B B Mukherjee, assistant director, India Tourism, Bhubaneswar.
The guideline papers relating to the project say,” The basic idea is to provide a clean and affordable place for foreigners and domestic tourists alike, including an opportunity for the foreign tourists to stay with an Indian family to experience Indian customs and traditions and relish authentic Indian cuisines.”
In order to maintain the quality of services at these sites, the policy says that the Regional Classification Committee will inspect and access the Bed and Breakfast/Homestay Establishments, based on facilities and services offered.
Unlike commercial accommodations, the guidelines categorically mandate that the owner/promoter of the establishment along with his/her family should be physically residing in the same establishment. The owner can let out minimum one room or maximum six rooms accommodating maximum 12 people.
Currently, only two homestay establishments are operating in the state – one at Dhenkanal and the other at Bhubaneswar. Others are in the pipeline and awaiting approval from the government. Officials of the department said more requests are coming from Angul and Dhenkanal.
Nilandree Mishra, who runs the homestay establishment in Jagmohan Nagar in the city said, “The concept is very popular in foreign countries. In Dubai and Mauritius, the scheme is quite a big hit. We also tried a little bit to promote tourism by this way. However, we need more support from the tourism department in terms of publicity to attract more tourists to these properties.”
Sarat Acharya, travel operator with Discover Tours said, “The concept is really amazing. We need to popularise such initiatives. This is likely to give a quality time to the tourists, who visit the state. Although it has been quite popular in states like Kerala for some time now, it came to Bhubaneswar little late. However, it has good potential to boost tourism.”
