Airbnb To Promote Lesser-Known Destinations In Uttarakhand

Beyond the popular spots of Rishikesh and Mukhteshwar, Uttarakhand is home to several offbeat destinations perfect for a serene getaway. To promote these lesser-known destinations among travellers, Airbnb has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB).

The collaboration aims to build host capacity across other lesser-known destinations in the state to encourage more travellers to discover places beyond the usual. In addition, a key objective is to provide travellers with unique cultural experiences and insight into Uttarakhand's varying regional traditions to emphasise conscious travel practices that benefit the local communities.

Empowering Local Communities

The MoU highlights key elements outlining how Airbnb will be supporting this pursuit. The partnership will focus on capacity building, onboarding homestays onto the Airbnb platform, creating a robust homestay ecosystem, and training for seamless integration. Workshops will be conducted for a select group of "model hosts" who will impart their knowledge and expertise to other members of their community. Airbnb will also conduct a thorough review of homestay-specific gaps in the identified pilot destinations and share its assessment with UTDB to foster inclusive growth within the region.

Sachin Kurve, Secretary, Tourism and CEO, UTDB, Government of Uttarakhand, said that the partnership will unlock the potential of individuals in the tourism sector to attract guests from India and abroad. Through this partnership, they aim to train micro-entrepreneurs on responsible hosting, hospitality standards, and sharing hosting best practices. Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager-India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Airbnb, said that the partnership will empower micro-entrepreneurs in the region by offering them training and encouraging responsible hosting initiatives. They are looking forward to working with the government to onboard homestays in the state on their platform.