New Delhi, 17 March (H.S.): In a landmark initiative to empower India's tribal communities and elevate their role in professional tourism, the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs jointly inaugurated a capacity-building program for tribal homestay operators on Tuesday.

Held at Kautilya Hall in Hotel Samrat, the training—delivered by ITDC's prestigious IHM Ashok institute—targets honing service standards and management acumen to global levels, fostering community-led tourism in remote areas.

The inaugural batch drew 40 participants from Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Gujarat, promising enhanced visitor experiences alongside sustainable self-employment for tribal families.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs Secretary highlighted shifting traveler preferences toward pristine, crowd-free nature escapes, positioning homestays as an antidote to hotel shortages while generating livelihoods in trail-rich tribal terrains.

ITDC Managing Director Mugdha Sinha aligned the effort with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 100,000 nationwide homestays, training 1,500 participants initially to spawn state-level master trainers for grassroots replication.

A pivotal release, the multilingual Tribal Homestay – Operation & Development Manual 2026 (crafted by IHM Ashok, translated into Hindi and Gujarati), equips operators with practical guidance, bridging cultural preservation and economic uplift in India's hinterlands.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar