Click to play videoNew Delhi: If you're fretting over not finding accommodation in Delhi, then there's good news coming your way.
The Union Tourism Ministry is now getting you a feel of real India, by inviting ordinary citizens to throw open their homes to tourists travelling from foreign countries to stay in regular Indian homes.
The scheme is called the Bed and Breakfast Plan and Ministry sources say that the scheme alone will create an additional 25,000 rooms for tourists.
“The idea is to create more accommodation and give the housewife a way to earn an extra bit,” says, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Ambika Soni.
The Ministry's plan is simple –
- House owners will be able to offer upto five rooms and 10 beds under this scheme. Which means only offering rooms other than those in use by the family to guests.
- The Bed and Breakfast establishments will be categorised as Silver and Gold based on the facilities and services offered.
- House owners will be registered with the Government who will be promoted by the Ministry on the Incredible India platform.
- The scheme will initially be Delhi centric as a run up to the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and then adopted countrywide.
- It will increase the occupancy availability in Delhi by 25,000 rooms.
- Delhi's existing capacity is one-lakh rooms.
But that’s not the only thing in the offing. The Ministry’s first breakthrough will be with visa relaxation and multiple entries for tourists.
“We have finally got the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Home Ministry to allow long term visas for foreign tourists. These travellers can now get five-year-long visas, which were not allowed earlier. It is being implemented immediately," Soni says.
Meanwhile, with the tourist inflow expected to touch the four million mark this tourist season, the highest ever in its history, the Ministry’s initiatives will only add to the ongoing boom.
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