Goa: Govt releases Caravan Tourism and Homestay bed & breakfast policies to increase tourism

In an attempt to take the Tourism sector beyond beaches, the State government yesterday released the Caravan Tourism and the Homestay bed & breakfast policies. Both policies are an extension of the ‘Goa Beyond Beaches’ idea.

They focus on sustainable development in the hinterland including non-vertical tourism clusters, homestay clusters, caravan tourism, agro-tourism, and spiritual tourism. Apart from providing unique experiences to tourists, these policies underline the empowerment of local communities thereby enhancing the overall tourism ecosystem.

The policy grants the service providers the advantages of water and electricity supplied at residential rates instead of commercial or business rates. The property taxes too will be assessed on residential rates.

According to the policy, the first one hundred homestays and the first 100 B&Bs will get the advantage of their registration fee being reimbursed for the first year of the policy tenure. Service providers will also receive incentives up to two lakh rupees for the purchase of furniture and furnishing.