Crown of Incredible India project: Pahalgam becomes first destination to register home-stays

Anantnag, Feb 11: The Pahalgam has become the first destination to launch 10 home-stays under the Crown of Incredible India project.
Crown of Incredible India project is an initiative of the Govt. of UT of J&K for rural home-stays at tourist destinations throughout the UT in collaboration with OYO Rooms.
The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag, Dr Piyush Singla said that the experiment started in Anantnag a few months ago and the overwhelming response has resulted in the project being upscaled at the UT level.
He said that all stakeholders have been taken onboard during the discussion to ensure that the initiative fills the void in supply as well as is a meaningful employment opportunity for the youth. He said that the initiative will be instrumental in boosting tourist footfall, both domestic and international.
Talking about the groundwork behind the initiative, Dr Singla said that concerted efforts were made by the district over the last few months and detailed planning went into making this initiative a success. The substantial impact that this project will have on the rural economy will be unprecedented and the youth should come forward and exploit this opportunity. This project will be a game changer in the field of rural tourism.
In Pahalgam, while 10 home-stays have already been registered and are live on the online portal, another 10-20 home-stays are being made operational. Several youth in Daksum, Verinag, Kokernag have also expressed their interest in setting up similar home-stays and efforts are underway to make this a reality soon.
Under the initiative, any resident can collaborate and provide residential accommodation to tourists. The idea has been gaining prominence globally and is operational in various parts of the country. Home-stays provide an alternate sustainable source of income for the home-stay owners.
In collaboration with Mission Youth, JK the District Administration is currently exploring the possibilities of setting up home-stays in other prominent tourist destinations, with focus on those destinations that are yet to be unexplored due to infrastructural deficiencies.
The youth are being encouraged to become partnering entrepreneurs who will in turn fulfill three important goals: generate employment, boost tourist footfall and aid infrastructural capacity building for tourism with modest investment in hitherto unexplored destinations.
The project provides an unparalleled opportunity for empowerment of the youth, whose efforts can make this project instrumental in transforming the rural landscape in the UT.