SHILLONG: In a bid to attract more tourists to the hill station, ‘MakeMyTrip,’ India’s largest online travel company, is turning its attention to promote home-stays in the State.
The company had invited home-stay owners for a meeting at Dylan’s Café on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, Swapnil Vats, community manager of the company, said, “We had a small meeting and invited home-stay owners to train them in online booking and how to use different apps, etc.”
When asked if the company has had any consultations with the State Government, Parv Bansal, who looks after east and central India (for the company), said, “We are in communication with the Tourism Board and trying to finalise things.”
He added that the company has already tied up with governments of Assam, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh, among others.
Over 80 home-stays from Shillong are listed with MakeMyTrip.
When asked how the company ensures validating each of the home-stays and whether it has an overall idea of the home-stay owner, Vats said, “We do basic identification of owners. Our business manager personally checks on the home-stays and gathers information about each one.”
The travel company charges 10 per cent commission from home-stay owners.
Regarding the need to promote home-stays in the State, Bansal said, “There is a huge demand for home-stays in Meghalaya but there is a demand and supply gap.”
To bridge this gap, he said there is a need for locals to open more home-stays as during peak seasons, there is shortage of the right kind of home-stays.
Highlighting on the online booking system, Bansal said there is currently an interface between the client and the host (property owner) via the MakeMyTrip app, which gives updates on rooms and bookings, among other things. Guests can also view the rules framed by owners.
