Rightstay (MMT)& Stayzilla aggregators to Partner with AP Tourism in the South to promote Home Stays

Vijayawada, December 12, 2016: AP tourism today signed a strategic partnership deal with Rightstay (MakeMyTrip), Stayzilla to promote home stay concept in AP. The MoU was signed between Sri Himanshu Shukla IAS Director AP Tourism GoAP and Swapnil Vats, Community Manager, Rightstay and Ankit Rastogi, Vice President Marketplace, Stayzilla. With this association, Rightstay & Stayzilla becomes the first two aggregators to associate with government tourist department in South India.

In order to promote Rural Tourism in the state, AP Tourism intends to encourage organized, community based, environmentally and socially responsible Rural Homestays across the countryside in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh recognizes rural tourism as an important instrument for sustainable livelihood of the rural people. Rural Homestay is the mechanism for experiencing a rural way of life for visiting tourists. Homestay is any traditional accommodation available/constructed aesthetically in rural areas with best amenities and highest safety norms for the tourists. In order to promote Rural Tourism in the state, Department of Tourism intends to encourage organized, community based, environmentally and socially responsible Rural Homestays across the countryside in Andhra Pradesh.

The objective to encourage such Homestays is so as to create a participative, sustainable eco-system which provides an alternate source of income for villagers and enhancing livelihoods in rural areas without straining their existing resources. Thereby creating sustainable livelihood and creating large scale employment in rural areas.

Andhra Pradesh (AP) has rich cultural heritage with multitude of rural areas having unique traditions and lifestyles which are most conducive for attracting tourists under rural tourism. Rural Andhra Pradesh is colourful, vibrant and rich in natural beauty and culture. The people are warm-hearted, simple and honest. There are abundant opportunities for tourists to experience the rural lifestyles all across AP.

Sri Himanshu Shukla, IAS, Director of Tourism said, “The Department of Tourism also intends to ensure that such experiences are offered in line with the above stated objective of giving tourists a holistic rural experience keeping the “Atithi Devo Bhava” concept in the forefront. In doing so, the service necessarily needs to be participative, and should create a sustainable eco-system which provides an alternate source of income for villagers without straining their existing resources”.

Under this agreement, Rightstay & Stayzilla will lend its expertise to APT to conduct verification procedures and jointly boost Homestays and unique stay experiences within Andhra Pradesh. APT is a tourism development body that helps to catalyze the economic prosperity of the state. Andhra Pradesh will be one of the first state tourism bodies to tie up with home stay aggregator like Rightstay & Stayzilla to promote the culture of Homestays in South India. This partnership will also enable verification and training of these New Homestays being developed right from the start. Stayzilla’s team in the South, headed by Stayzilla headquarters of Bangalore, will be part of the Service and Quality Assurance Committee under APT for Inspection, which includes property verification and screening. While Rightstay a part of MakemyTrip is a Gurgoan based aggregator with regional office in Bengaluru.

The Homestays opened up under this agreement will conform strictly to the high qualities and standards set by APT. All Homestays registered with the AP Tourism will receive technical support in the form of inventory management and software applications to ensure seamless booking procedures, from Rightstay and Stayzilla. AP Tourism, Rightstay & Stayzilla will also jointly conduct educational and training sessions for registered Homestays on best practices such as online usage, content management, operations and expense management. Rightstay and Stayzilla teams will also be involved in imparting Hospitality and Skill Training to all the New Homestays under the APT scheme.

Rightstay is an independent platform from MakeMyTrip and the application is currently available on Android and web. It provides alternative stay options like villa, residential apartments, home stays and guest houses and enables customers to rent unique places that offer great, authentic experience at affordable prices. In search of authentic experiences, travellers are now looking for diverse accommodation options and with Rightstay, MakeMyTrip offers a ‘home away home’ experience to the customers. The objective is to also leverage the demand, traffic and brand advantage that MakeMyTrip has created in the travel market and its unique position in the alternate accommodation category.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Deepak Tuli, Senior Vice President – Growth Business, MakeMyTrip said, “It is a privilege to partner with the Hon’ble Government of Andhra Pradesh. The state is a travel-friendly destination around the year and is one of the fastest growing markets for Rightstay. The state of Andhra Pradesh holds great potential in terms of upcoming travel hubs being developed by the Government. While homestays account for 40% of the total properties on the Rightstay, 25% of those are private properties. Given the fragmented and underpenetrated nature of this segment, we believe that opportunity here is immense. We already have a head-start with more than 14,000 properties across 200 cities already live on Rightstay and plan to end the next year with 100,000+ properties and are excited to partner with the state of Andhra Pradesh in that endeavor.”

Commenting on this announcement, Ankit Rastogi, Vice President Marketplace, Stayzilla said, “We are delighted to announce our association with APT to promote tourism and thereby home stays in the state. We aim to strengthen tourism in South with the first tie-up with a state government tourism body in the region. Well- maintained and quality accommodation is always a concern for tourists and we aim to address the same by associating with different tourism boards in the country. Andhra Pradesh is a popular tourist destination which adorns with its coastal lines, lake waters and monuments”.