Heritage home stays will boost tourism by involving local communities, said Rajiv Patel, a heritage activist from Gujarat, in Bidar on Thursday.
He was speaking at a workshop on the importance of heritage homes and development in the zilla panchayat organised by the Tourism Department.
He said that the concept of heritage homestays was growing popular not only among foreign tourists but also domestic tourists.
He said that the economy of the Ahmedabad old city had significantly improved after the introduction of homestays on a large scale. Mr. Patel, who founded City Heritage Centre, an Ahmedabad-based NGO to create awareness about heritage conservation, said the experiment of heritage homes started small, but had succeeded beyond expectations in less than eight years. We now have hundreds of active members and homeowners participating, he said.
Internet-based tourism facility aggregators like AirBnB, Stayzilla and Booking.com, have proved to be boon to home stay owners. Turning your home into a heritage home can be done at minimal changes, he said. “A warm bed and a clean toilet is what most people want. All additional amenities will be hugely appreciated,” Mr Patel said. To a question, Mr. Patel said that an average of Rs. 3 to 4 lakh had to be spent on renovating one room, while the returns were to the tune of Rs. 18,000 per day. Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tewari clarified that the government had no intention of taking over such homes. This should be a voluntary effort. The government is only promoting such efforts, Mr Tewari said. He announced that the City Municipal Council and Tourism Department would provide logistics and technical support to home owners were willing to convert their houses into homestays.
