To create rural livelihoods in J&K under the project ‘Crown of Incredible India’, Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihood Mission (JKRLM) has partnered with OYO envisaging to help local communities benefit from a well-managed homestay eco-system. CEO OYO India, Ankit Gupta called on the Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan apprising the LG about the progress made towards building 200 homestays to create rural livelihoods in J&K. Seventy-five homestays were inaugurated by the LG on the occasion of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav before India’s 75th Independence Day. Abbas Ahmad residing in Batkote, Anantnag says he is happy to partner with OYO. He is hopeful that he will be benefitted in the coming days. He says this is a good opportunity for us to work with a big company. This business will boost a new category of tourism in Pahalgam. We hope to be associated for a long time. Farooq Ahmad belonging to Margar Langanbal in Anantnag says, this initiative of the government and OYO will help us a lot for building our future. We hope that it will help in improving our incomes and making a better future for our families. The homestay will boost tourism says, Abdul Ghani Chopan of Langanbal in Anantnag. These homestays are identified considering landscape, scenic beauty, heritage and cultural diversity. They are located at Udhampur, Doda, Poonch, Kishtwar and Kthua districts of Jammu and Bandipora, Baramulla, Anantnag and Srinagar districts of Kashmir Valley. Workshops were organised in Srinagar and Jammu for the homestay owners by Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihood Mission. Most of these homestays are managed by women from the Self Help Groups. The homestays come with basic room amenities, scenic views, and a chance for travelers to experience true Kashmiri life. Some homestays will serve Kashmiri food, including traditional bread-Khambir, local fruits and kahwa. The OYO will charge affordable tariffs to the travellers. This innovative partnership is creating economic opportunities in the state, nurturing entrepreneurship and boosting local tourism. An estimated 1 crore tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir so far this year. The homestay solution by OYO includes identification of the homes, their audit, transformation and civil work, transfer of technology, training of homestay owners, branding and marketing, etc. As part of the initiative, 200+ rural homestays across 75 villages are under progress in J&K targeted to be completed by December 2022. These homestays are being created under the ‘Umeed ‘scheme of Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihood Mission.