 Kerala, which had around 1,500 classified homestays at one point of time, currently has less than 500 homestays classified with the tourism department — some surveys say the state has as many as 2,000 actual homestays. As local self-government in the state used to convert the home into commercial establishments while issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for applying for the Homestay classification, the number of homestay establishments applying for classification and renewal of classification has been going down drastically over the years. An assurance in this regard was given to the homestay owners by P Bala Kiran, Director-Tourism while addressing a virtual conference organized by KeralaHATS.
People don’t want to go for classification because they have to pay more property tax, water charges, pollution control board approvals among other overheads, according to Shivdattan, President, KeralaHATS. The decision of the government will encourage homestay owners to classify their units under the system, he adds.
According to Shivdattan, departments like Tourism and the Local Self Government who are stakeholders in homestays business, have already agreed on the exemption and the necessary orders will be announced soon.
KeralaHATS also recommended revising the ‘Grihasthali’ heritage protection scheme of the government to encourage owners of ancestral houses to convert them and highlight Kerala’s old architecture heritage in the homestay segment. The Tourism department offers a maximum of INR 5 lakh for renovation and maintenance of such assets with a 25% subsidy. The association of homestay owners asked for an upward revision of the government subsidy to encourage people to protect the heritage of Kerala.
KeralaHATS lauded the financial assistance scheme announced by the Kerala government to support the tourism sector at the meeting.
News Courtesy: ET
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