A Home Away From Home

 

Travelling has been a very popular pastime of mankind. Travelling, in earlier times, was done to find a convenient living spot or to hunt or to explore more of nature in order to satisfy the limited needs man used to have then. The main purpose was to make survival easy and possible. However, with growing needs for recreation and entertainment, travelling has now become a self created necessity, a way to gratify the needs related to enjoyment, adventure and exploration.

The most fundamental parameter and point of preparation is booking an accommodation for our stay in a new and unexplored area. There are several available options to stay ranging from luxurious open and green resorts, hotels of different types, guest houses and many more. These can be selected as per the traveler's budget and likes and dislikes. However, one of the most recent and popular trends is opting for Home Stay vacations.

 Homestay is a popular form of hospitality in which visitors share a residence with a local of the city to which they are travelling or a family that hosts a non-family member. A home stay actually works on the principle of ‘A home away from home’ and offers almost the same feel, comfort and environment as one gets at home. Top of that, the packages can be customized according to the needs of the vacationer. In most of the cases a home stay works quite similar as ‘Bread ‘n’ Breakfast’ concept in which the guest is accommodated in the host family’s home or any other family owned property with same level of comfort.  There are several benefits that have made home stays very popular and much sought after options. Young travelers especially, are finding home stays a cost effective, convenient alternative for accommodation. Apart from customization of stay package, they can get the required dishes prepared, can use Wi-Fi, can enjoy a mountain or lake view or leisurely enjoy a beach front property. Many owners prefer opening such accommodation options either very close to nature or in the main market place surrounded with all the necessary civic amenities. In today’s scenario of the pandemic, many have opted for mountain home stays to accomplish work from home schedules while having all the fun of life.

Home stays are mutually beneficial options for the guest as well as for the host. An additional asset, house or villa can be put to good use to earn returns on investments by offering the space for travellers and tourists. Also the maintenance of the asset is being taken care of in the process. In recent times, home stay accommodations are getting listed on popular portals like Booking.com, Airbnb, Trivia, and several others. According to a website report published in March 2021, around 47% of the accommodation is booked in home stays in the year 2019-20 alone. This trend is seeing a sharp rise in the present year and shall remain a popular option in future too.   

 



Dr. ANKUR BUDHIRAJA

Assistant Professor, BBA. JEMTEC


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