`Escape Completely’:  Forget posh hotels, high-end tourists try homestays for detox in Kashmir — The Kashmir Monitor

Srinagar, July 29: Ali Mohammad Khan, 48, has been at a bakery shop in Srinagar for eight years. Hailing from DawarGurez, he would hardly make money to support his family of 7.

 In 2020, life took a turn for good when the government announced incentives for establishing homestay in the frontier area.

 Khan converted his two-storied home into a homestay, which became a go-to -place for tourists visiting Gurez. “This year, I am planning to build another homestay since there is a paucity of tourist accommodation in our area,” he said.

 Khan has become a role model in this village with many converting their houses into homestays.

 Similar facilities have come up in other destinations particularly the offbeat ones, which recently opened for tourists.

  In Uri, Keran, and Tangdhar, homestays have provided an option of livelihood to scores of families after the border areas opened for tourism.

 In just two years, as many as 1,942 homestays with a bed capacity of 14,180 have come up in Jammu and Kashmir.

 Data available with The Kashmir Monitor suggested that 457 homestays have come up in Jammu and Kashmir last year, which added the bed capacity by 1180.

 Soon after the government notified guidelines for homestay registration in 2022, a total of more than 1,485 homestays came up with a bed capacity of 13,000.

 This significant addition to the accommodation sector as per the officials has successfully catered to the growing number of tourists who flock to the region’s different destinations.

Homestays become relatively cheaper for a tourist and by staying in registered homestays, visitors experience the hospitality of local families and gain insights into the culture and traditions of Jammu and Kashmir.

 Till June, as many as 1.08 crore tourists visited the Union Territory (UT). Against the rising tourism number,  currently, the total registered capacity for tourist accommodation in Kashmir is 62,488 beds, which includes all the hotels of A, B, and C categories and also the Guest Houses and Houseboats.

 The ‘A’ category hotels in Srinagar have an 8,778-bed capacity, ‘B’ category hotels in Srinagar have a 7,036-bed capacity, ‘C’ category hotels in Srinagar have a 10,500-bed capacity, Guest Houses have17,114 a bed capacity, and the registered operational Houseboats have 4,462-bed capacity.

Officials said the process of setting up homestays and guest houses has been simplified to accommodate more tourist numbers in the future.

“The government is encouraging people, especially from tourist destinations to set up homestays so that tourists get easy and diverse accommodation options. We are getting enormous requests from people who are willing to set up homestays and guest houses.” an official from the tourism department said.

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