Online aggregator for homestays Stayzilla and Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) recently signed an MoU to jointly promote and market homestays and alternate stays in Gujarat. The MoU was signed and exchanged by SJ Haider, Principal Secretary (Tourism) of Gujarat in the presence of Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Mahesh Sharma and Indian Tourism Secretary, Vinod Zutshi.
Under this agreement, Stayzilla and Gujarat Tourism will share the current base of homestays on each other’s digital platforms to bring more awareness on homestays in Gujarat. Stayzilla will also aid verification procedures and jointly promote the concept of homestays in the state. All homestays registered with TCGL will receive technological and operational support to run.
Also, Stayzilla and TCGL will jointly conduct education and training sessions for TCGL registered homestays on best practices such as online usage, content management, operations and expense management, which will benefit the hosts of the homestays.
Commenting on this announcement, Ankit Rastogi, Vice President, Marketplace, Stayzilla said, “We, at Stayzilla, have maintained that the key to increasing tourism is the availability of quality and affordable rooms, pan India. The shortage of rooms cannot be solved efficiently by constructing hotels in the short frame of time, which is required. We are excited about the fact that this is the realisation that various State Governments in conjunction with the Central Government have come to. Gujarat has emerged as one of the most popular states in the country for travel, thus playing a significant role in India’s tourism potential. This MoU, like the others, will help in building a vibrant ecosystem for homestays in Gujarat.”
The company is closely working with various state tourism departments for joint promotion and marketing of homestays. Stayzilla has recently signed MoUs with Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation and Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board to enhance homestay concept among the travellers in these states.
