Yatra.com to launch homestay accommodation at 22 places

NEW DELHI: Yatra.com is set to launch homestay accommodation at about 14 leisure destinations and eight business centres across the country as India’s second largest travel portal seeks to provide an alternative to hotels in some of the most visited places. The launch is scheduled for the first week of September.

“We are the first one to launch homestay schemes, wherein we are promising a minimum quality of service at these homestays. We will ensure a certain standard of service and quality for travellers at these homestays,” Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO of Yatra.com told ET in an interview.

The destinations selected for the service include Jaipur, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Munnar, Pune, Udaipur, Delhi, Cochin, Bengaluru, Ooty, Kolkata, Mysore, Hyderabad, Srinagar, Nainital, Rishikesh, Coimbatore, Shimla and Manali.

Shringi said the homestay service will prove an instant success because availability of accommodation is a big issue for leisure travellers during peak season. “Also, a lot of leisure travellers prefer not to spend a lot on stay during leisure trips. Those travellers, fairly large in number, will immediately choose these homestays,” he said.

The company will provide assistance to the owners of the accommodation to ensure a certain standard of their properties, said Shringi. “We will also arrange funding for homeowners to help them upgrade their homestays,” he said.

A team of about 200 people belonging to Travelguru, a Yatra.com company, is in touch with the property owners and guiding them. “We are also guiding them on how to take picture of the property,” said Shringi.

Yatra.com will share a certain percentage of revenues with the owners for providing the accommodation, Shringi said without sharing the details of the revenue share arrangement.

Industry experts said the global norm is sharing of 15-25% of revenue with the property owners. The company will allow the owners to advertise their properties on other platform providers as well. “We are very confident that with the combined reach of Yatra and Travelguru we shall be able to help these homeowners build their business and fulfil their demands,” said Shringi.