The Gujarat government plans to develop homestays in 100 villages as part of Gujarat Tourism Year 2026-27, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced at a World Tourism Day event at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, on Sunday. The state says the homestays will keep each village’s traditional character while adding modern amenities, and that it will back them with policy support, training and gap funding, IANS reported.
At the same event Sanghavi released the Tourism Year logo and launched a Gujarat Film Shooting Permission Portal, a single window for shoot permissions and no-objection certificates. The department signed eight MoUs and plans to train more than 1,000 new tour guides, according to ANI, via The Tribune.
Gujarat has had a homestay scheme since 2014
The idea is older than the announcement. A Tourism Department government resolution dated November 20, 2014 set up registration for homestays across the state. Its rules still shape what a village homestay can look like:
- The owner and family must live in the house, and it must be their main residence.
- Owners can let out one to six rooms, with 12 beds at most.
- A classification committee grades homes as Silver or Gold, with registration fees of Rs 100 and Rs 200.
- The 2014 text limited eligibility to houses that existed before March 31, 2014.
That resolution was written with cities and tourist towns in mind as much as villages. It pitched homestays as extra beds near busy destinations and a side income for families. The new push names a number of villages, adds training and hygiene work in rural and tribal areas, and talks about gap funding. The state has not yet published the list of villages, the size of the funding, or whether it will revise the 2014 rules.
What it means for villagers and visitors
For a family in a village near Saputara, Dholavira or the Gir periphery, a registered homestay is one of the few tourism businesses that needs no land purchase or hotel licence. The house already exists. Money goes to the household rather than to an operator in Ahmedabad. The catch lies in the standards: enough bathrooms, reliable water and power, parking, fire safety and police verification. Many rural homes will need upgrades before inspectors approve them, which is where gap funding and training matter most.
Travellers should get more choice outside the state’s resort circuit. Gujarat’s tourism pitch leans on pilgrimage centres such as Ambaji, Somnath, Dwarka and Pavagadh, which IANS reported the government is also upgrading, and on big-ticket events. Sanghavi announced that HYROX, a fitness race, will come to Gandhinagar from November 26 to 28 and an Ironman event to Ahmedabad on February 14, with the state expecting more than 10,000 visitors for HYROX, according to ANI. Village stays cater to a different traveller: one who wants a slower trip and local food, and who spends money in places hotels skip.
Among the MoUs, the tie-ups with Kutch University, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Kaushalya The Skill University and the Tata Community Initiatives Trust cover skilling, the part of the plan most likely to decide whether village hosts can run a homestay as a business.
What to watch
Look for the list of 100 villages and the district spread, since tribal belts in the east and Kutch have the most to gain. Watch too for the funding amount per home, any change to the six-room and pre-2014 rules, and whether the state puts registered homestays on its booking channels.
Sources: IANS via Social News XYZ, ANI via The Tribune, Gujarat Tourism Department (2014 homestay resolution)
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.