The journey begins

New Delhi, Sept. 11: Travel-weary tourists, who fear the prospects of staying at another dusty, flea-ridden hotel, will now have a choice of a home away from home in Rajasthan.

A group of enterprising businessmen are getting ready to serve as an interface between foreign tourists who want to visit the land of palaces, forts and havelis and a growing band of people who wish to rent out their homes.

They have devised the concept of a ?home stay programme? that is just beginning to catch fire during a boom time for tourism with demands for rooms hitting the roof.

Pride Hospitality Private Limited, promoted by Apurv Kumar, executive director of the Clarks Group of Hotels, and Faiz Dadarkar, managing director of Tryst Technologies, have caught on to a burgeoning business opportunity.

?We will just be a catalyst between tourists and the home provider. We will ensure that visitors get all the facilities and services for which they pay,? said Dadarkar.

Before packing his bags for a vacation in Rajasthan, the tourist books a residential room from a range of price and feature options.

Pride Hospitality has a match-making programme for the tourist and the home provider through an extensive 128-point profiling suite. This delves into something as basic as the eating and drinking habits of both parties.

The company is all set to kickstart its programme from next month. The project will initially select 200 homes to develop, guide and market. The options will swell to 1,000 homes in the coming months.

Room rents range from Rs 250 a day to Rs 8000 a day.

So what facilities are on offer for a Rs 250 room? A basic clean house in a hygienic locality, a double bed with an attached or a separate wash room (but it will not be a common wash room), air cooler, storage space and a common television viewing area. Tea and coffee will also be available at any time in the day.

?In contrast, a Rs 8,000-room package will have all the facilities of a four-star hotel,? said Dadarkar. ?Our surveyors will grade the properties. These will be evaluated on parameters like location and amenities. We may also guide the home owners on improvements.?