KOLKATA: In a bid to fast track the process of registration of homestays across the state, the state Tourism department has introduced online method of application seeking registration for homestays.
Secretary of the Tourism department Saumitra Mohan recently held a virtual workshop with the concerned officers of his department at the district level so that they have a fair knowledge of dealing with online applications and disposing them off quickly.
"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her recent administrative review meetings at the district-level has urged our department to take measures to boost homestay tourism across the state and we are leaving no stone unturned in this regard," a senior official of the Tourism department said.
State Tourism department minister Indranil Sen, in the Assembly session held last month, had said that Bengal was poised to become number one in homestay tourism in the next six months. The department has a homestay policy in which an incentive of Rs 1.5 lakh is provided to each of the registered homestays across the state so that the funds can be utilised for upgradation of their infrastructure. Over 1000 homestays have already been registered under the state Tourism department. A minimum of three rooms is a precondition for availing the state's incentive.
The homestays getting registration from the department find its details like location, address, contact number etc getting uploaded in the website of the Tourism department and the chances of the facility getting booked increases automatically. A stringent pre condition for registration is that the owner has to stay in that particular facility.
Presently, most of the homestays are located in North Bengal but a good number are coming up in tourist spots in South Bengal, including Sunderbans.
The highest number of homestays nearly 400 are located in Kalimpong district.