Traveling to Himachal Pradesh- stay at home.
Want to go to Himachal Pradesh for a vacation but bored with hotels and guesthouses? Well, there's good news for you, as the state government has taken the lead in promoting home stay in villages.
Residents of this Himalayan state in northern India are now being encouraged to throw open their doors to both domestic and foreign tourists for home stay in rustic settings, formalising a practice that has anyway been prevalent in the state's scenic Kullu valley for many years.
Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) managing director Ram Subhag Singh said under the 'home stay scheme' any villager can rent out a portion of his house to tourists.
"Today tourists do not want to remain cocooned in a five-star environment to which they are accustomed at home. Their actual requirement is rural tourism - the real experience of nature," Singh said.
He says the scheme not only generates self-employment for people living in villages but will also de-congest urban areas.
The scheme will also check fleecing by hoteliers at popular tourist destinations during the peak season. Now, the budget tourist has the option to stay in private houses in villages located on the outskirts of the city.
Under the scheme, an owner of a house located in a village can seek permission from the tourism department to rent out up to three rooms to tourists. Each room should have an attached toilet.
These home stay units will not have to pay luxury tax or sales tax. They will be charged domestic rates for electricity and water, as before.
"Tourists love to stay in my spacious wooden cottage with apple trees all around," said Ram Kondal from Sairopa village in Kullu district.
"We can also take the tourists trout fishing in the Tirthan river."
"From rock climbing or jungle trekking to white-water rafting or parasailing - it's all here," says Rikhi Ram who lives on the outskirts of the popular tourist town Manali.
"Tourists coming to the Kullu valley can be given an experience in plucking apples or sowing fields with bullocks or cooking from garden fresh vegetables," he adds.
Ram Subhag Singh says the tourism department is also planning to impart training to the owners of the home stay units so that they can provide better service to tourists.
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HOME-STAY scheme - Himachal Pradesh
The apprehensions of the hotel industry notwithstanding, the home-stay scheme, if successfully implemented, will not only boost eco-tourism but also prove a boon for adventure sports.
The hill state has a vast potential for mountain terrain biking (MTB), trekking, river rafting and other adventure activities. The trans-Himalayan terrain with extensive network of natural trails, village back tracks, un-metalled and metalled single-lane roads, presents a stupendous challenge for the adventure lovers. However, not much headway has been made on this front all these years mainly due to the lack of requisite infrastructure for such village-based activities. The scheme will go a long way in overcoming this major hurdle in the growth of rural tourism.
Foreign tourists are more interested in eco-friendly activities like mountain biking, nature treks, angling and river rafting and the state has been blessed with all that is required to make an international destination, says Mohit Sood, president of the association. “However, the government will have to adopt a focussed approach to achieve this objective. The sites for such activities should be identified and proper approach paths and other infrastructure should be developed accordingly”.
For instance, to make the state an international MTB destination, the existing cycling trials have to be linked to ensure continuity so that cyclists do not have to peddle through large stretches of metalled roads which kill the charm of mountain biking. The state has about 400 km of forest trails in patches that could be connected by developing another 200 km of mountain trail, which will virtually connect the entire state by mountain biking tracks. It will help develop two major MTB circuits, one from Shimla to Manali and the other from Manali to Dharamsala. The association, which has been organising MTB Himachal, a cycling ride and race event since 2005, has carried out a detailed exercise in this regard. He maintains that the new trails could be created by spending just Rs 3 to Rs 4 crore. “It will not only help promote mountain biking but plan but all types of eco-tourism activities,” he asserts.
The ultimate objective is to promote responsible tourism by making every village a tourist village in the environmentally fragile hill state, says Manisha Nanda, secretary, tourism.
Home stay in villages will provide an attractive and affordable alternative to the congested urban destinations. It will also afford an opportunity to the tourists to enjoy the delightful spectacle of apple orchards in full blossom and verdant tea gardens, have a taste of local cuisine and get familiarised with the rich hill culture. The growth of rural tourism will also generate self-employment opportunities in the villages, she explains.
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