Srinagar: Pahalgam, a famous tourist resort town in Kashmir, has become the first destination to launch 10 home-stays under the ‘Crown of Incredible India’ project, according to officials.
‘Crown of Incredible India’ project is an initiative of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for rural home-stays at tourist destinations in collaboration with OYO Rooms.
Under the initiative, any resident can collaborate and provide residential accommodation to tourists.
The idea has been gaining prominence globally and is operational in various parts of the country.
Home-stays provide an alternate sustainable source of income for the home-stay owners.
In Pahalgam, while 10 home-stays have already been registered and are live on the online portal, another 10-20 home-stays are being made operational, officials said.
Several youth in Daksum, Verinag, Kokernag have also expressed their interest in setting up similar home-stays and efforts are underway to make this a reality soon, they said.
Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag District Piyush Singla said the experiment was started in Anantnag a few months ago and following the overwhelming response, the project is being scaled up to the UT level.
He said that all stakeholders have been taken onboard during the discussion to ensure that the initiative fills the void in supply as well as is a meaningful employment opportunity for the youth.
The initiative will be instrumental in boosting tourist footfall, both domestic and international, Singla said.
Talking about the groundwork behind the initiative, he said that concerted efforts were made over the last few months and detailed planning went into making this initiative a success.
“The substantial impact that this project will have on the rural economy will be unprecedented and the youth should come forward and exploit this opportunity. This project will be a game changer in the field of rural tourism,” the DC said.
In collaboration with Mission Youth, JK the District Administration is currently exploring the possibilities of setting up home-stays in other prominent tourist destinations, with focus on those destinations that are yet to be unexplored due to infrastructural deficiencies.
The youth are being encouraged to become partnering entrepreneurs who will in turn fulfill three important goals: generate employment, boost tourist footfall and aid infrastructural capacity building for tourism with modest investment in hitherto unexplored destinations.
The project provides an unparalleled opportunity for empowerment of the youth, whose efforts can make this project instrumental in transforming the rural landscape in the UT.
