ITANAGAR, Jan 19: The two-day Arunachal Pradesh Homestay Congress, the first of its kind in India was inaugurated on January 16 at State Food Craft Institute by Secretary Tourism, Sadhana Deori. The Congress saw the presence of 74 Homestay owners, eight Tour Operators, 12 Tourism officials, nine Resource persons and members of the media.
The Congress is being organized by Department of Tourism in collaboration with ACT (Association for Conservation & Tourism) and APSED (Arunachal Pradesh Society for Education & Development) under the coordination of Raj Basu, Adviser Rural Tourism & Homestays, Department of Tourism, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
Basu delved on the actions taken by the Department from 2016-2018. He confirmed that almost 50,000 sq km were covered in random, based on the rural settlements in the past 3 years. He explained that though the Government of India, Department of Tourism promotes Arunachal Pradesh under ‘India’s Northeast, Paradise Unexplored’, it has been necessary for Arunachal Pradesh to create her own brand like that of Sikkim.
Considering the fact that massive forest cover, mainly primary forests supporting an elaborate river network, Arunachal Pradesh must introduce the process of sustainable tourism development by supporting stakeholder communities who will help in conservation of these rich natural habitats, he said. Basu further highlighted that Tourism in Arunachal Pradesh must be locally owned through the currency of Homestays, where balance between Hospitality and Heritage Conservation will be the main effort.
Assistant Director, Tourism, Bengia Manna Sonam highlighted that presently there are 167 homestays registered with the Tourism Department from few Districts, but now the Department will strive for equal participation of all Districts in the approved circuits of the State. She further emphasized that the gradation system will begin soon and the Department will work closely with the industry to increase footfalls in the presently approved Homestays.          
She also said the Department will work on a Homestay Manual with Travel Tips for the tourists visiting the homestays.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Sadhana Deori, insisted that Tour Operators must handhold the Homestays. Any kind of subsidy in regard to Homestays will now be targeted to lesser developed Districts, the state Government will encourage setting up of more camp sites and adventure related activities, tourist season is only limited and hence agro based tourism activities to be increased to include harvesting seasons too. There should be more marketing to attract domestic tourists to Homestays, she said highlighting that there are special grants for women entrepreneurs in Homestays.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
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