§1What this business is

Families in a hill village open their homes as homestays, and a community tourism committee packages stays with village walks, treks, folk performances, craft demonstrations, cooking classes and farm activities. The profile is built for about 10 homestay hosts, 5 local guides and 8 cultural performers, run by a coordinator, two community facilitators and a marketing assistant. Bookings come from tour operators, travel websites, schools and colleges, and corporate groups.

Capacity: Sales of ₹100 L a year: homestays 45%, cultural experiences 20%, guided tours and treks 15%, food experiences 10%, craft sales 10%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A local organiser, self-help group or NGO that can mobilise a village and has some tourism or hospitality experience.

Who it is not for

A single investor wanting full control — the model depends on the whole community taking part.

Advantages

  • Uses homes and land the village already has, so no land cost
  • Many income streams: rooms, food, guiding, crafts and performances
  • Creates work for women and young people without leaving the village
  • Uttarakhand's homestay scheme supports village homestays

Drawbacks

  • Tourist arrivals are seasonal; some months have low occupancy
  • Remote villages have poor roads and weak internet for bookings
  • Keeping service quality even across many households is hard
  • Needs a strong committee to share income fairly

Skills you need

  • Hospitality, hygiene and guest handling
  • Trek and nature guiding with safety knowledge
  • Online listing, pricing and booking management
  • Community mobilisation and fair accounting

Why difficulty 4/5: Needs a whole village to work together, plus training, renovation and marketing over 12 months.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Domestic weekend and holiday travellers
  • Foreign tourists seeking village life
  • Schools, colleges and research groups
  • Wellness travellers

How it sells

  • Own website and social media
  • Responsible travel agencies and tour operators
  • Tourism board listings and travel marts
  • CSR and educational partnerships

Good to know

  • The profile lists seasonality, poor access and the digital divide as the main marketing issues.
  • Festival and harvest-themed packages are suggested to fill the off-season.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Solar water heaters10₹3.50 lakh
Eco-friendly waste management system1₹2.00 lakh
Trekking and outdoor equipment—₹3.00 lakh
Cultural performance equipment—₹1.50 lakh
Communication equipment—₹2.00 lakh
Homestay furniture and bedding10₹1.50 lakh
Community kitchen equipment1₹1.00 lakh
Visitor centre furnishings1₹0.50 lakh

From: Uttarakhand DUY project profile — Sustainable Agriculture Community-Based Tourism Initiatives

  • Food supplies for guest mealslocal produce sourced in the village
  • Traditional furniture and décorthe profile advises buying from local artisans

From: Uttarakhand DUY project profile — Sustainable Agriculture Community-Based Tourism Initiatives

§5Licences & registration

  1. Homestay registration with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board
  2. FSSAI basic registration (food service)
  3. Gram Panchayat NOC
  4. Tourism Department registration
  5. GST (above the turnover threshold)
  6. Adventure activity permits and Forest Department permission where needed

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

The profile counts ₹19.50 L of government scheme support and names the Mukhyamantri Homestay Yojana. MUDRA and CGTMSE can back the bank loan; Stand-Up India fits a woman or SC/ST promoter.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Building renovation ₹20.00 L + equipment and furnishings ₹15.00 L + training and capacity building ₹7.50 L + marketing ₹5.00 L + documentation ₹2.50 L + working capital ₹15.00 L = ₹65.00 L. No land cost (existing village homes). Finance: community contribution ₹13.00 L, government scheme support ₹19.50 L, bank finance ₹32.50 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹15.00 L within the project cost.

Year not printed on the profile — check current renovation and furnishing costs.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Export council / board: Ministry of Tourism

  • This is a service; foreign guests visiting the village count as tourism earnings, not goods exports.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Weather and road closures cutting off the season
  • Disputes inside the community over income
  • Overcrowding that damages the village culture
  • Uneven service leading to bad online reviews

§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan

A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.

  1. Days 1–30: Visit a working community-based village tourism unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Homestay registration with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, FSSAI basic registration (food service)), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
  3. Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.

§11Who to connect with

Not verified yet

Associations, clusters and training institutes — the directory is being built. Connect

§12Watch

There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.

Want to start Community-Based Village Tourism?

DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. Uttarakhand DUY project profile — Sustainable Agriculture Community-Based Tourism Initiatives

Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.