Himachal: Amendment Bill to encourage homestays tabled

Dharamsala, December 20

The state government tabled the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development and Registration (Amendment) Bill 2023 in the Vidhan Sabha today. The Bill aims to encourage homestay tourism in the state.

As per the amendments proposed in the Bill, homestay shall now mean a private house, which will be available to tourists for booking accommodation. As per the statement of objectives of the Bill, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development and Registration Act was enacted in 2002 to regulate the registration of tourism units and persons engaged in tourism activities and other matters connected therewith. Ever since the Act came into force, the tourism sector has undergone tremendous changes in terms of its scope, activities and the number of persons engaged in these activities.

The Bill states that the number and scale of tourism units have increased and the department is continuously facing challenges in terms of regulation and other functions like registration or renewal of registration thereof.

There is also need to decriminalise offences to encourage and instil confidence among persons engaged in tourism activities. This has necessitated amendments to the Act, the statement of the objectives of the Bill states.