The Ministry of Tourism and Airbnb have signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen India’s homestay ecosystem and promote tourism beyond traditional destinations. The partnership will focus on host training, digital onboarding and destination promotion, with the aim of creating greater opportunities for local communities.
Under the agreement, Airbnb will act as a capacity-building and digital onboarding partner to the ministry. The company will support prospective and existing homestay hosts with the skills and tools required to participate in the tourism economy.
The collaboration will include host workshops and training resources covering listing creation, pricing, platform tools and hospitality practices. Airbnb will also support the digital onboarding of homestay owners onto its platform.
The partnership comes as the government looks to promote lesser-known and emerging destinations and distribute the economic benefits of tourism more widely across local communities. Specific programmes and destinations will be jointly identified and implemented during the two-year collaboration.
The partnership will also support destination promotion initiatives aligned with the Incredible India campaign, highlighting India’s cultural heritage, diverse destinations and local travel experiences.
Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Ji, Union Tourism and Culture Minister said,” The country’s tourism landscape was evolving, with travellers increasingly seeking authentic experiences that connect them with local culture, heritage and communities. This presents an important opportunity to bring lesser-known destinations into the tourism mainstream while creating new avenues for homestay owners, local artisans, young tourism professionals and communities to participate in and benefit from the tourism economy.”
He added that technology could help create greater opportunities for local communities and connect emerging destinations with travellers.
Airbnb Country Head for India and Southeast Asia Amanpreet Bajaj said the partnership would support hosts with digital skills and tools while encouraging travellers to explore destinations beyond traditional tourism circuits.
As part of the collaboration, Airbnb will also spotlight its ‘Soul of India’ digital microsite, which brings together destinations, local communities and cultural heritage to encourage travellers to explore lesser-known places.
The partnership is expected to support a more distributed tourism ecosystem by improving the availability and visibility of homestays in emerging destinations and creating opportunities for local communities.
