The Digital Platforms and Homestay Business : A Study in Indian Context

Rising disposable income of a section of the population, higher penetration of internet and social media along with better accessibility to far-flung regions played positive roles in boosting India’s tourism prospects. Homestays have already emerged as an integral part of the tourism economy in India as an alternate accommodation offering and its access to the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have strengthened the economic prospects and the global reach. With this backdrop, the paper explores how digital platforms have changed the business operations of the homestay owners in India using the primary survey data from 6 states. It also examined the existing regulatory gaps that can be addressed so as to promote homestay business from policy perspectives. The findings enabled to conclude that promotion of homestays can fulfil the aspirations of generating livelihood and employment for the local communities and to achieve the sustainable tourism goals while adding fillip to the overall dynamics of tourism in India.