{"id":104503,"date":"2025-07-28T20:18:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/?p=104503"},"modified":"2025-07-28T20:18:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:48:31","slug":"women-led-rural-homestays-to-get-%e2%82%b92-lakh-support-under-revamped-goa-tourism-policy-khaunte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/?p=104503","title":{"rendered":"Women-led rural homestays to get \u20b92 Lakh support under revamped Goa Tourism Policy : Khaunte"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"auto\"><strong>Goa Khabar : In a major push towards empowering rural women and promoting hinterland tourism, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte announced that Goa\u2019s Homestay and Bed &amp; Breakfast Policy is being amended to address key challenges faced by local communities. A direct grant of \u20b92 lakh will now be offered to eligible applicants to set up homestays replacing the earlier reimbursement-based model that posed financial hurdles for many rural households.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Addressing the media, Minister Khaunte said, \u201cThe original policy required beneficiaries to invest first and claim the amount later, which was not practical for women in rural households. Based on their feedback, we have made the necessary changes to ensure the policy is inclusive, accessible, and truly empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The revised policy applies to homestays with 1 to 6 lettable rooms within the owner\u2019s residence, specifically in rural areas stretching from Pernem to Canacona. While registration is permitted across Goa, incentives will be limited to non-coastal, non-urban zones to ensure the policy\u2019s rural focus is preserved.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-104485\" src=\"https:\/\/goakhabar-com.preview.jikut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/29.07.25-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"286\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Khaunte emphasized that the initiative is deeply rooted in women empowerment, as homestays will primarily be managed by the women of the household. \u201cThis is not just about adding inventory to our tourism ecosystem\u2014it\u2019s about creating livelihood opportunities, preserving cultural heritage, and giving rural women a leadership role in community-based tourism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">The Department of Tourism will roll out the application process once the ongoing Assembly session concludes. In the initial phase, 100 homestays will be supported under the scheme. The department also plans to strengthen its existing MoUs with platforms like Airbnb and MakeMyTrip to promote these rural stays and improve their operational readiness.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">\u201cWe are committed to ensuring the fair geographic spread of homestays so that benefits reach across Goa\u2019s hinterlands. Through this, tourism will become more inclusive, and local communities will thrive as tourists engage more deeply with Goan life,\u201d the Minister added.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">This initiative forms part of the Government\u2019s broader Regenerative Tourism vision, which seeks to restore, enrich, and empower Goa\u2019s natural and cultural ecosystems through responsible tourism practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Goa Khabar : In a major push towards empowering rural women and promoting hinterland tourism, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte announced that Goa\u2019s Homestay and Bed &amp; Breakfast Policy is being amended to address key challenges faced by local communities. A direct grant of \u20b92 lakh will now be offered to eligible applicants to set up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25169,"featured_media":104374,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,6],"tags":[3794],"class_list":["post-104503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-155","category-6","tag-featured"],"read":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104504,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104503\/revisions\/104504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/104374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goakhabar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}