JAMMU, Mar 6: The Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, presided over a Tourism Department meeting today, which included attendance from the MD of J&K Bank and other relevant officials, to review the initiatives aimed at identifying gaps, updating policies, and enhancing the homestay sector for the broader advancement of tourism in J&K.
The Chief Secretary urged the department to formulate a thorough policy for the development of homestays across the Union Territory’s districts. He requested the preparation of this document within the next month after consulting with all relevant stakeholders.
He highlighted the necessity for financial institutions to create a new loan product that captures all activities aimed at promoting homestays in the area. He recommended investigating the potential for increasing the number of rooms eligible for homestay conversion, along with the financial resources that can be procured for constructing and upgrading homestays.
Dulloo stressed that the scope of the scheme should be expanded to address the concerns of those involved in this tourism practice.
Additionally, the Chief Secretary encouraged the Department to include provisions for converging with other schemes like PMEGP, PM Surya Ghar Yojana, among others, to ensure that multiple benefits accrue to the grassroots level population.
During the meeting, J&K Bank’s MD and CEO, Amitava Chatterjee, acknowledged that there remains room for fine-tuning this loan product to make it more inclusive and appealing for potential applicants. He noted that an attractive promotional offer of a 1% rebate on the loan could be provided to customers for timely repayments.
On this occasion, Commissioner Secretary of Tourism, Yasha Mudgal, confirmed that the policy is nearing its finalization. She mentioned that many stakeholder concerns had been addressed after discussions held in both Jammu and Srinagar.
She further noted that collaboration with SIDBI, IITM, and other entities for the capacity-building of homestay owners would be implemented under the new policy. It aims to provide training in social media branding, digital marketing, and geo-tagging, as well as listings on platforms like Google Maps, Booking.com, Airbnb, and NIDHI, among others.
Moreover, it was revealed that the policy seeks to alleviate the compliance burden for individuals aiming to benefit from the homestay scheme. This policy will additionally enhance the scheme by facilitating the registration of secondary properties under a structured Bed and Breakfast model, offering several innovative benefits for effective execution across the UT.
Later, the Chief Secretary reviewed advancements related to the development of a comprehensive app intended to enhance user experience, provide comprehensive information, and extend various facilities through a one-stop solution.
He requested that the app serve as a singular point of access for diverse benefits and unify services related to tourists and service providers under one platform. He further advised making the app more extensive and user-friendly by organizing services according to distinct stakeholder groups and ensuring prompt content updates reflecting real-time changes.
Regarding its development through BISAG-N, Yasha Mudgal presented the stages of its evolution and the progress achieved thus far using several illustrative slides. She informed the meeting that this app would represent a novel approach to promoting J&K tourism due to its accessibility for both tourists and industry stakeholders.
MD of JKTDC, Fazlul Haseeb, elaborated on various features of this application, emphasizing that the principal goals of its launch would include streamlined content management, cross-platform accessibility, ready information, and an enhanced user experience.
This web portal, beyond delivering comprehensive details on tourist destinations and amenity availability, will keep users informed about forthcoming events, while also soliciting visitors’ feedback regarding their experiences across different seasons, festivals, and local customs and events.
The gallery will showcase photos, videos, and e-brochures, providing tourists with an immersive understanding of each destination’s atmosphere and ambience. The app will feature a customizable itinerary tool, enabling tourists to tailor their trips based on available time and personal interests. It will also provide insights for tourists based on their affinities for trekking, hiking, angling, wildlife, and other adventure and leisure activities, along with accurate information on nearby shopping areas, healthcare facilities, transportation options, and tourism service providers, thereby eliminating the need to seek services elsewhere.
