Where Guests Become Family

HOMESTAYS ARE RESHAPING TRAVEL THROUGH LOCAL EXPERIENCES, SLOWER LIVING AND MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS WITH COMMUNITIES

- Words NISHTHA PANDEY

IN 2019, I TRAVELLED TO Coorg with a group of friends. One of them suggested we stay in a homestay instead of a hotel. The rest of us dismissed the idea, as staying in somebody else's home lacked the predictability we associated with hotels. Seven years later, I found myself doing the exact opposite. I now choose homestays not because they are cheaper, but because they offer something hotels rarely can: conversations with hosts, local food, and the feeling of belonging to a place. Over the past decade, homestays have shifted from a niche option to one of India's fastest-growing travel segments, with the market projected to nearly triple as travellers increasingly seek local, experience-led stays over standardised hospitality.

SPARE ROOMS, SHARED LIVES

When Ishita Khanna, founder and director of social enterprise Spiti Ecosphere, first began working with communities in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, in the early 2000s, the idea of a homestay was still unfamiliar. Through Ecosphere, Khanna helped set up community-run homestays in Demul, a remote village in the Spiti Valley with around 50 households. "Very little money was actually staying within the local community," she said.