Airbnb ties up with NEC, NEDC to boost tourism in Northeast India

Online hospitality service provider Airbnb on March 19, 2018 signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the North Eastern Council (NEC), the North East Tourism Development Council (NETDC).

These four MoUs were signed under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Development of North East Region (DoNER). Kum Hong Siew, Regional Director of Airbnb Asia Pacific signed the MoUs on behalf of Airbnb, one of the world’s leading community-driven hospitality companies.

Highlights of the MoU

• The MoUs aim at creating hospitality micro-entrepreneurs across key destinations in the North East India.

• These MoUs are expected to double tourist growth rate in the next three years, by creating more sustainable accommodation options and by enhancing the hospitality service standards.

• Under the MoUs, the NEC, NETDC and Airbnb agree to expand tourism in the North East India through Airbnb’s global platform.

• It seeks to improve the quality of homestay facilities and unique properties in the North East India.

• It will provide and promote outstanding tourism resources in the North East India.

• All the signatories will cooperate to improve the regulatory environment for home sharing in the region.
 
Strategic Partnerships of NERLP and NERCORMP with Airbnb

• Moreover, the MoUs were also signed for strategic partnerships of two key livelihood initiatives- North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) and North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) with Airbnb.

• These MoUs envisage to generate technology-enabled livelihood opportunities in tourism and hospitality for micro-entrepreneurs in the North East.

• The MoUs also seek to help low-income families in monetising their existing assets through home sharing.

• Under these agreements, Airbnb will provide training to core teams of the NERLP and NERCORMP, which will further train existing and potential hosts on home sharing, responsible hosting, hospitality standards, hygiene and basic amenities.

MoU between NERCORMP and HESCO

Another MoU was signed between NERCORMP and Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO) for leveraging community resources and appropriate local resources based technology for development.