Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society (Kerala HATS) inaugurated

Tourism minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan inaugurated the Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society (Kerala HATS) on July 26, 2008 at Ashir Bhavan, Ernakulam. Speaking at the function, the minister stressed the need for promoting only classified homestays. He cautioned that homestays functioning without government sanction will be rendered illegal and be made to close down. An electricity package and tax benefits for homestays are also being considered, said the minister.

Kerala HATS, a society formed for addressing the issues of homestay operators also aims to help its members to promote their business. Presided over by Prof K V Thomas MLA, the occasion brought together various players from the state's homestay sector. Prof Thomas, also the chairman of Kerala HATS, urged homestay operators to contribute wholeheartedly towards the vision of maintaining Kerala as a clean destination and he promised all support from the society in this regard.

Dr Venu.V IAS, secretary - Kerala Tourism, was the chief guest at the function. The meeting was also attended by M Sivasankar IAS, director-tourism, Cherian Philip, chairman-KTDC, Sudhir Sahi, consultant-UNDP Tourism Project and Jagadish Kumar, vice president, Kerala HATS.

At the event, www.homestaykerala.org the official website of Kerala HATS was inaugurated by Jacob Punnose, DGP-Vigilance. In conjunction with this, a one-day workshop that enlightened homestay operators on improving their services and facilities was held. Jacob Punnose, DGP-Vigilance, K G Mohanlal IFS, managing director-KTDC, K M Roy, senior newspaper journalist conducted classes at the workshop. Around 250 homestay operators from across the state attended the workshop.

"The biggest problem faced by homestay operators is the marketing part of it. To counter this, the government will promote classified homestays in a big way through widespread publicity", said Dr Venu V, secretary, Kerala Tourism. He added that homestay operators should look at this venture only as a supplementary income source and not be solely dependent on this for a livelihood.