INDEPENDENT PANEL TO BE CONSTITUTED TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE HOME STAYS
GANGTOK, 23 Dec: Home Stays in Sikkim have now become official with the state government having finalized its definition as well as the regulatory aspects of this kind of tourism trade; this finalization process was completed with the concerned department having incorporated all suitable recommendations and suggestions as presented by the public and particularly by stakeholders in the Tourism business.
“The essence of Home Stay experience is one in which the tourist experiences the personal local family touch”, is what the new rule says.
As such, Home Stays, are defined as “any private house located in the rural/ urban area where the house owner or his/her families are physically residing in the unit and earmarks some rooms exclusively for the use of Tourists bearing certain basic minimum service standards and eligibility criteria as prescribed…”
An interesting component included in the idea of Home Stays is that the operator should be willing to partake in any skill or capacity building program of the concerned department or stakeholders. The concerned department is the Tourism and Civil Aviation department.
It is informed that a key aspect of the concept which has now been included is the provision for post implementation assistance and monitoring which is to ensure proper functioning of home stay operations. This will include a support system to provide professional guidance and overall managerial directions to the Entrepreneurial units. An investors’ support cell has been proposed to be functioning under the concerned department. This cell is to assist the units by way of marketing guidance and support, technical guidance for continuous improvement and capacity building.
As for the home stay criteria any individual or family which owns a house in good condition in rural or urban areas and which can spare a minimum of 1 room and a maximum of 5 rooms exclusively for tourist accommodation can apply for home stay registration. The owner also has to agree to provide basic minimum infrastructure standards and basic assured quality in services.
Home stays are also permitted to function in separate units next to the main block in the premises of the home stay establishment owner. Any home stay having more than 5 rooms is to be categorized as a Village Lodge. In clusters or community based home stays areas the local bodies (Panchayats) are to decide the limit on the number of rooms to be allowed.
Apart from the requirement of the house design to conform to traditional and ethnic architecture at least one family member is required to be able to communicate in English and or Hindi. It has also been made mandatory for the owners to be able to make vehicle arrangement to take their guests to the nearest doctor or medical facility in case of illness.
Another interesting aspect of the scheme is the classification of home stays. Based on the facilities and quality of the accommodation provided, homestay units are to be classified into three categories of Class A or Gold House, B or Silver House and C or Bronze House.
An independent panel for monitoring and evaluation of home stays is to be constituted; this is for the purpose of maintenance of service standards. This is to be done by a Monitoring and Certifying committee.
The government has taken a long time in coming out with its set of regulations and standards governing home stays, in fact it is more than a year since the draft notification was issued inviting comments and suggestions from the public. Now that the department has collated these as well as incorporated all suitable suggestions it is hoped that home stays emerge as the next big thing that Sikkim has to offer in its tourism menu.
GANGTOK, 23 Dec: Home Stays in Sikkim have now become official with the state government having finalized its definition as well as the regulatory aspects of this kind of tourism trade; this finalization process was completed with the concerned department having incorporated all suitable recommendations and suggestions as presented by the public and particularly by stakeholders in the Tourism business.
“The essence of Home Stay experience is one in which the tourist experiences the personal local family touch”, is what the new rule says.
As such, Home Stays, are defined as “any private house located in the rural/ urban area where the house owner or his/her families are physically residing in the unit and earmarks some rooms exclusively for the use of Tourists bearing certain basic minimum service standards and eligibility criteria as prescribed…”
An interesting component included in the idea of Home Stays is that the operator should be willing to partake in any skill or capacity building program of the concerned department or stakeholders. The concerned department is the Tourism and Civil Aviation department.
It is informed that a key aspect of the concept which has now been included is the provision for post implementation assistance and monitoring which is to ensure proper functioning of home stay operations. This will include a support system to provide professional guidance and overall managerial directions to the Entrepreneurial units. An investors’ support cell has been proposed to be functioning under the concerned department. This cell is to assist the units by way of marketing guidance and support, technical guidance for continuous improvement and capacity building.
As for the home stay criteria any individual or family which owns a house in good condition in rural or urban areas and which can spare a minimum of 1 room and a maximum of 5 rooms exclusively for tourist accommodation can apply for home stay registration. The owner also has to agree to provide basic minimum infrastructure standards and basic assured quality in services.
Home stays are also permitted to function in separate units next to the main block in the premises of the home stay establishment owner. Any home stay having more than 5 rooms is to be categorized as a Village Lodge. In clusters or community based home stays areas the local bodies (Panchayats) are to decide the limit on the number of rooms to be allowed.
Apart from the requirement of the house design to conform to traditional and ethnic architecture at least one family member is required to be able to communicate in English and or Hindi. It has also been made mandatory for the owners to be able to make vehicle arrangement to take their guests to the nearest doctor or medical facility in case of illness.
Another interesting aspect of the scheme is the classification of home stays. Based on the facilities and quality of the accommodation provided, homestay units are to be classified into three categories of Class A or Gold House, B or Silver House and C or Bronze House.
An independent panel for monitoring and evaluation of home stays is to be constituted; this is for the purpose of maintenance of service standards. This is to be done by a Monitoring and Certifying committee.
The government has taken a long time in coming out with its set of regulations and standards governing home stays, in fact it is more than a year since the draft notification was issued inviting comments and suggestions from the public. Now that the department has collated these as well as incorporated all suitable suggestions it is hoped that home stays emerge as the next big thing that Sikkim has to offer in its tourism menu.
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