Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Experiential Learning, Academic Year 2021-2022

Credit: 0.5

Assignment Experiential Learning – Unlocking Rural Potential

for Course:
Submitted - Mr. Nagendra Singh Rawat
to: Co-Founder & Director | Cafal Advisors

- Prof. Prof. Abhishek Srivastava

Faculty Coordinator | IIM Kashipur

\ Deep Swaroop Garg (MBA20022) Madhav Bhadiyadra (MBA20018)

[email protected] [email protected]
+91-9899589123 +91-9429378866
Varun Chandna (MBA20357) Jayant M (MBA20249)
[email protected] [email protected]
n +91- 9962788791
+91-8954324720
Hareb Kallangodan (MBA20266)
[email protected]
+91- 95389 85590
Date of 06/10/2021
Submission:
Title of Objective:
Assignment: ‘Identification of Area/Demography to develop the model for the increment of
livelihood opportunity in micro level homestay in Uttarakhand’

Faculty/External Guide Comments:

Internal Faculty Signature:

External Guide Signature:

Project Title:
‘Develop and Test Implementation model for increasing livelihood opportunities in
micro-level homestays’

Objective 2.1:
Similar Homestay Models
A homestay forms part of the sharing economy. Homestay represent the
notion of the commercialization of one’s home for financial benefit.
Homestays typically provide a middle-ground for tourists- they are more
intimate than a hotel but offer more of a formal setting than staying with
friends and relatives.
A homestay can offer the tourist with facilities that traditional types of
accommodation may not be able to provide. This might include an authentic
cultural experience with those who live in the home, or it could be having an
entire home, and all its facilities, to yourself.
Some of key characteristics of a homestay are:
 Family involvement
 Local community benefits
 Guest engagement with the property
 The sharing of space between guest and host
 The participation of owner-managers in the shaping of the
accommodation product
 The involvement of ‘lifestyle entrepreneurs’
 The importance of gender, personal networks, social values, and family
life cycle
Some of the cultural experiences that a tourist may receive include:
 Learning a new language
 Tasting new food and learning to cook new recipes
 Learning about the local way of life
 Learning about local history
 Exposure to the local community
 Taking part in village, nature or workplace tours
 Learning about the religion and visiting religious sites
 Taking part in local events and celebrations
Amenities list:
1. Well maintained and well-equipped house and guest rooms with quality
carpets/area rugs/ tiles or marble flooring, furniture, fittings etc. in
keeping with the traditional lifestyle.
2. All rooms should be clean, airy, pest-free, without dampness and with
outside window /ventilation.
3. Minimum floor area in sq. ft. for each room. Plains 120
4. Minimum floor area in sq. ft. for each room. Plains Hills 100
5. Comfortable bed with good quality linen & bedding preferably of Indian
design;
6. Attached private bathroom with every room along with toiletries.
7. The minimum size of each bathroom with western toilet bowl and
paper.
8. 24 hours running hot & cold water with a proper sewerage connection.
9. Well maintained smokefree, clean, hygienic, odour free, pest-free
kitchen.
10.Dining area serving fresh Continental and or traditional Indian breakfast
(optional)
11.Good quality cutlery and crockery. (optional)
12.Adequate [ower supply 15 amp earthed power socket in the guest room.
13.Safe drinking water
14.Good quality chairs, working table and other necessary furniture.
15.Garbage disposal facilities as per Municipal laws.
16.Energy Saving Lighting (CFL/ LED) in guest rooms and public areas.
17.Acceptance of cash /cheque / D.D.
18.Name, address and telephone number of doctors.
19.Housekeeping facilities in the room.
20.Maintenance of register (physical or electronic format) for guest check-
in and check-out records including passport details in case of foreign
tourists.
Some of the best Homestays across the world work in silos and not as a part of
systematic program. But the following are a few cases which can be used a
benchmarking the homestay model:

Himachal Pradesh homestay scheme:

The Home Stay scheme shall have the following objectives:

(a) Broaden the stake holder’s base for tourism in the State;
(b) Take tourism to the rural and interior areas of the State;
(c) Decongest the Urban areas, which cannot support any further tourism load;
(d) Provide employment and economic values in the interior areas;
(e) The activity shall be ecologically sustainable.

Definition

(i) Home Stay

Any private house located in rural areas of the State in good condition and
easily accessible in the country-side i.e. within the Farm House, Orchards,
Tea-Gardens etc. will primarily qualify under the Scheme. The house shall
fulfil the minimum requirement of having one or more room’s
accommodation subject to a maximum of three rooms to cover under the
scheme with attached toilet facility which will be made available to the
tourists as Home Stay accommodation. The promoters are at liberty to
submit fresh proposals for approval for setting up Home Stay in the
country-side under the “Himachal Pradesh Home Stay, Scheme 2008”

(ii) Accommodation:
Accommodation under the scheme would mean the room accommodation of
minimum standard sizes with attached toilet facility reasonably furnished
and ready for letting out to the tourists/guests as prescribed under the said
scheme. The standard size for double and single bed room accommodation is
120 Sq.ft. and 100 Sq.ft. respectively and 30 Sq .ft .for bathroom / toilet.

(iii) Rural areas: Rural areas means area outside the jurisdiction of a duly
constituted urban local body i.e. Municipal Corporation, Nagar Parishad and
Nagar Panchayat. SADA’s shall not however, be considered an Urban Local
body.

Operation of the Scheme:

The scheme shall be operative in the entire rural areas of the State. The
incentives/exemptions under the scheme shall be available in the
countryside locations of such houses only in rural areas of the State. Any
proprietor/owner of a private house located in a rural area of the State can
apply in the prescribed proforma. The District Tourism Development Officer
before registering such Home Stay units must ensure the location, facilities,
surrounding environment, hygiene, cleanliness, security, architectural
designs and safety of the tourist. Home Stay units which are near the HPTDC
units, the professionals of HPTDC will impart training to the owners/staff of
the Home Stay units. Concerned DTDO’S will organise such training
programmes. Department of Tourism shall also print a brochure of the
registered Home Stay units and also publicise through website and also
release print advertisements.
A committee consisting of District Tourism Development Officer or any other
officer of the Department of Tourism, Himachal Pradesh, Area Manager,
HPTDC concerned of the area and leading hotelier/Travel Agent/Tour
Operator (to be constituted by the DTDO) or any officer of the area will
inspect the premises being offered and in the event of its being found
suitable, the Distt. Tourism Dev. Officer will approve/register the Home Stay
Unit. The committee will also approve the rates proposed by the owner in
his/her application.

Incentives/Exemptions

a) The relaxation of taxes/fees (as detailed below) for Home Stay Tourism
Units in the rural areas has been provided in order to diversify the tourists
from oversaturated areas to other areas and to give a boost to Home Stay
and rural tourism to ensure participation of villagers in the sector and make it
a House hold affair. Under the said scheme, Home Stay Units in rural areas
will be registered by the Department of Tourism and will be provided
following incentives/exemptions:
(i) Town & Country Planning Department will charge no change of land use
fees from the registered Home Stay units;
(ii) Home Stay units would be exempted (upto three rooms) from Luxury and
Sales tax/Vat.
 (iii) Domestic rates for electricity would be charged from the registered
Home Stay Units and
(iv) Domestic rates of water would be charged from the registered Home
Stay Units.

Almatari and Barauli homestay Nepal:

Home to a predominantly Tharu ethnic population on the western edge of
Chitwan National Park, famous for its greater one-horned rhinos.
The Amaltari homestay program, established in 2013 by local entrepreneurs
with help from the government and WWF, is the go-to example for
conservationists, who are often asked about the benefits local people receive
from tourism. Officials point to Amaltari when critics say tourism revenue ends
up with big hotels rather than with indigenous communities, or that people
living near the park shoulder all the burdens of conservation with none of the
gains.
The homestay program here is one of 16 run by local communities and
supported by WWF Nepal in the Terai Arc Landscape, the hugely biodiverse
lowlands along the Nepal-India border. They were established with the
threefold aim of safeguarding the environment and wildlife, providing
economic benefits, and ensuring social justice.
Villagers have realized that if they look after the forest, wild animals such as
the one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) will start roaming the area, and
tourists will come in search of them, he says. This, in turn, has helped conserve
the community forest. Villagers are also earning from ancillary services and
enterprises such as tours by jeep and elephant.
In addition, the village has seen a revival of interest in Tharu culture among the
youth. Similarly, residents are more aware of the importance of practicing
good hygiene and sanitation, as they don’t want to turn off guests with dirt
and filth.
Challenges:
 Some of the community groups are marginalized and too poor to benefit
from this scheme
  This imbalance further limits the growth of such a programme
 Increased income further poses the challenge of people leaving the
places altogether in the search of better opportunities and aspiration of
a better lifestyle
 Failure to market the program to foreigners

Barauli:
Guests are welcomed with traditional garlands and flower. Mahato and her
friends started the homestay program in 2015 with help from a social
enterprise company called the Community Homestay Network or
communityhomestay.com. Local people manage the service, while the
company marketed it to tourists worldwide. But as soon as they started, the
locals realized that they don’t have the necessary skills to manage the
homestay, so the company manages it for them and will do so for a period of
10 years as per the contract. This programme is different from amaltari, just
because it is chiefly positioned toward foreign travellers and it empowers the
local women, as all the units are owned by local women. They receive $50 as
rent every month, don’t have to go out of village to seek work and food is
sourced from local agriculture produce.
Ladakh Homestay Model (Himalayan Homestays)
The Snow Leopard Conservancy started the Himalayan Homestays program
with financial assistance from the UNESCO, The Mountain Institute (TMI), and
the Ford Foundation. The Conservancy has partnered with the Ladakh
Ecological Development Group (LEDeG), and the Kanchenjunga Conservation
Community (KCC) to ensure the management and success of the program. The
Himalayan Homestay program offers accommodations in both the Ladakh and
Zanskar regions. Each region has two routes that tourists can take.
There are two routes available to tourists in the Ladakh region – those
interested in the Hemis National Park and those interested in the Sham region.
Both routes offer homestays in six different villages along the way. According
to the program website, over 100 homestays between the Ladakh and Zanskar
regions have been established. Himalayan Homestays market their enterprise
through informational materials, tour operators, and an extensive web
presence. Tourists are able to find information on homestay locations, booking
reservations and helpful tips through their website.
Program partners give trainings in hospitality and basic guiding skills to the
local residents to provide them the opportunity to learn about hygiene,
tourism and conservation techniques.45 The partnership is also instrumental in
marketing the homestay program and working with tour operators in the
region to use their accommodations. The pricing structure is quite simple. It is
INR 400/night for single occupancy, or INR 700/night for double occupancy.
The price includes tea, lunch, dinner and breakfast for each person. Extra
meals are INR 50/meal.
Conservation
The Ladakh Homestay Model benefits to the local economy in several ways
through a ten percent set aside of all homestay proceeds. This funding is spent
on community-led conservation drives, such as restoration of cultural heritage,
waste management, nature guide training, recycle and reuse initiatives,
construction of predator-proof corrals, fencing of tree- plantation areas, and
setting aside traditional pasture areas for wild ungulates.
The conservation activities listed above are directly tied to the Himalayan
Homestay’s three objectives:
  Ensure host communities have developed a unique mountain experience
and are obtaining a fair return for their services and investment.
 Ensure homestays contribute to conserving local cultural and natural
heritage.
 Create a distinctive, authentic, reliable, tourist accommodation and
experience - Homestays packages for visitors in the world’s highest
mountain range.
The Homestay Experience
The Himalayan Homestay model is very holistic, going beyond the traditional
room and board to include eco-friendly comfort amenities such as solar
lighting, boiled drinking water, dry-composting toilets, and solar-heated
showers at select sites.
There were several opportunities for interaction with the local family,
especially since language was not a barrier. In addition to shared mealtime,
there were opportunities to access local nature guides. Two of the homes had
western toilets, while the third more rural location had a traditional
composting toilet. All of the homestays had a solar electric kitchen used for
cooking.
Sarmoli Homestay Model

Sarmoli, a small village near Munsiyari at the gateway to the Johar Valley, is
participating in the growing tourism economy by developing a community
based tourism program. The Sarmoli homestay program aims to improve the
livelihoods of existing residents, while preserving the local cultural, social and
natural resources of the village. The program emphasizes housing
accommodations that are reflective of local building traditions and livelihoods
and allows tourists a chance to experience Kumaoni culture firsthand.
The Sarmoli homestay program began in 2002 and was initiated through the
Sarmoli-Jainti Van Panchayat (Forest Council). Since 2010, a collective has run
the program, which is currently in the process of registering as a company. The
program’s success is due to the work and vision of Malika Virdi, a democratic
activist who manages the program. Decisions are made through a collective
decision making process with those involved in the program.
Initially there were several barriers to implementing the homestay model.
Disrespectful guests were the main concern. Locals did not know what impact
they may have on local children, and feared the abuse of drugs and alcohol.
The capital investment and start-up costs created a financial barrier for some
potential households. Another barrier was the change in household power
structure. In traditional Indian families, the male contributes the most to the
family income. However, the Sarmoli homestay program empowers local
community members, especially women, who take a lead in the program by
greeting guests, educating them about their family’s livelihood and lifestyle,
and by cooking. In some cases this program has made the woman the high-
income earner. Overcoming traditional norms and realizing the net benefit for
the family unit has empowered the local women of the village, benefited the
local economy, and improved the livelihood of the villages.
Despite the initial barriers, the program has expanded from one village to five
neighboring villages. There are plans to expand in the near future between
Munsiyari and the plains in order to develop a homestay circuit for tourists.
The Sarmoli program now offers three packages to cater to different travelers.
The Budget Package is the most basic at INR 750/person/night. It includes the
overnight stay and three meals. The Regular Package is INR 2,500 for a couple
and includes an overnight stay, meals, and a day guide to a place of interest.
The Customized Package is INR 3000/person/night and includes an overnight
trek to Khalia at 3747m.
Challenges:
As the program continues other challenges have presented themselves.
 Providing the needed infrastructure to accommodate tourists can be a
challenge.
 Offering restroom facilities and a bedroom separated from the family’s
living quarters can be a costly addition or renovation.
 This added start-up cost for a family to join the program may exclude
some villagers from participating.
 Marketing the homestay program has also proven difficult with a lack of
high- tech knowledge and little web presence.

Conservation
When the program was first developed, active members of the Sarmoli-Jainti
Van Panchayat participated in the community based tourism program. Seven
percent of each homestay fee went to a conservation fund that helped the Van
Panchayat pay for ward and watch of the village forest. However, the fee is no
longer collected since the program was disassociated from the Van Panchayat.
An interview with the program manager indicated the link between the
homestay program and the conservation of natural resources is still intact. The
program now contributes voluntary labor to ensure the protection and upkeep
of the forest common. This includes repairing protection walls and doing
plantation work, previous activities being funded through the conservation
fund.
Experience:
The homestay experience begins with an introduction to the program where
guests learn about the community’s program goals, as well as its relationship
to conservation efforts in the forest council. This is followed by a welcome
from the host family including a tour of the home. The information sharing
helps to build cultural awareness and respect. The main direct interaction
includes meals, which are brought to participants by the family members. Most
families are open to other interactions, such as home tours, chatting, and
selling goods made in the home. Interactions vary depending on the tourist
group and the comfort level between the family and the guests.