Airbnb, Uttarakhand Tourism sign initial pact to enhance local hospitality standards

Mumbai: Airbnb on Thursday said it has inked an agreement with the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) to build host capacity in lesser-explored destinations.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Airbnb will undertake capacity-building activities in the selected pilot locations to enhance local hospitality standards, the company said in a statement.

This partnership will focus on onboarding homestays onto the Airbnb platform.

"This partnership with Airbnb will further expand our efforts to promote homestay culture in our state.

"Individuals in the tourism sector will receive training on responsible hosting which will unlock their potential to attract guests from India and abroad. Through this partnership, we're confident the travellers will be presented with enriching, immersive experiences," Uttarakhand Tourism Secretary and UTDB CEO Sachin Kurve said.

Airbnb will conduct workshops in the identified pilot destinations to train 'model hosts', will conduct a thorough review of homestay-specific gaps in the identified pilot destinations share its assessment with UTDB and will work with the identified district tourism officers appointed as points of contact (PoCs) for seamless coordination.

"With this partnership, we aim to empower microentrepreneurs in the region by offering them training on hospitality standards, sharing hosting best practices and encouraging responsible hosting initiatives. We are looking forward to working with the government to onboard homestays in the state on our platform," Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager - India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Airbnb, said.