South India’s Kodagu Tourism Dept approves 207 homestays for tourism

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

South India’s Kodagu is home to hundreds of home stays, but only a few have registered with the Tourism Department.

So far, the department of tourism has approved 207 homestays and is in the process of verifying about 400 more.

It took more than a year for the department to assess the facilities at homestays since many have mushroomed all across the district without a valid license.

The department of tourism lacked the information on their numbers and location and many of them are located in remote areas.

Three years ago, the department of tourism announced that it would certify homestays and invited applications from them. This was in the wake of complaints over illegal and insecure home stays.

Every homestay which registered with the department had to pay a fee of ₹500 and the list of homestays, approved by the department, was made available on the website of the Kodagu district administration on Tuesday.

Raghavendra, Assistant Director of Tourism, Madikeri told that the department assessed the facilities and safety aspects and only then approved of the home stay.

The conditions for approval include a maximum of five rooms and a minimum of two rooms with attached bathroom, ample parking, CCTV surveillance, ample space for the guests to move around, and that the property owner should reside on the same premises.

He said  that they did not approve some homestays as they were located in unsafe locations. In the wake of last year’s landslips, safety of tourists had been given importance.

Mr. Raghavendra said a no objection certificate (NoC) from the jurisdictional gram panchayat and the police are a must for the approval of homestays. The approval will be in place for five years and they should go for renewal after that, according to Mr. Raghavendra.

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