Newstrack

HP tourism bets on village retreat, home stays

Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi

After Himachal Pradesh's land reforms went on to favour investment through external participation in land purchase for commercial activities, development in the hospitality arena has increased manifold. The good news is that the villages are proving to be the real beneficiaries.

Tarun Shridhar, director of tourism and managing director of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, says, "We are focusing a lot on home stay schemes and small village retreats to provide accommodation to tourists. We are extending support by giving them wholesome marketing assistance for their facilities." Shubhra Banerjee, CEO of First Resort Concepts, believes that the future of hilly regions is in small and clean facilities as small establishments like village retreats are getting very good response. She adds, "Of late, there has been a rise in the interest in resort developers to set up small properties of 10 or 20 rooms in the hills. These retreats also rely on locals for manpower needs, who can be trained for providing basic services."

Ashok Kumar Vaid, owner of Noa Retreat in Noa, Bilaspur district, is of the opinion that the state's hospitality future is in small accommodation facilities. "Resorts and retreats are attracting immense traffic, even from abroad through online bookings. We have eight rooms right now but considering the demand I am adding four additional rooms, which would be stretched across four to five acres of land with facilities of jogging track, swimming pool and a restaurant along an existing tennis court." The Noa region is also developing facilities like trekking, jungle safaris, water sports in the Gobind Sagar Lake, paragliding and hand-gliding and proving to be a case study for the department of tourism in the state.