Karnataka coast becoming a hot homestay destination for tourists

The quiet revolution in the estate homestay tourism in the mountains is a thing of the past. Now, the beach homestay is fast catching up at various points in the 306-kilometres coastal stretch from Thalapady (Karnataka) to Mazali (Uttara Kannada).

The coastal homestays have been creating quite a ripple among those owning beach properties, mainly because of the sheer popularity of the beach homestays.

Karnataka’s beaches are very sparsely populated unlike the rest of the coastal areas in the east and the west. The population density is less than 100 per sq km, as per the census figures, in comparison to 274 per sq km in other areas.

“The thin population works in favour of beach homestays. This area has a good potential for being developed for beach homestays as the landowners, by and large, maintain their plots well and retain the natural charm like swaying coconut trees and huts with thatched roofs. They’re resourceful and hardworking.

Most importantly, the coastal region is well connected to cities and towns through a network of major district roads, and state and national highways. If this is not a recipe for development of a new tourist circuit, I do not know what else could be,” said Yathish Baikampady CEO of the Panambur Beach Tourism Development,
Mangalore.

“The coastal region is slowly waking up to this new tourism option. We are yet to explore the possibilities. Foreigners, upmarket tourists and groups of young techies would be our target clientele. As it is, the beaches in the state were not ready to receive the ‘homestay’ kind of tourists. The idea and know-how is yet to percolate into the local hosts.  About 90% of them belong to the fishermen community and most of them are not exposed to this kind of tourism. The concept of beach homestay cannot be successful without the participation of fishermen,” said Mohan Naik, a tourism department official.

According to a study by the local school of social work, youths in the fishermen community have begun looking for alternative vocations due to the dismal scope of their occupation.

“On certain beach stretches in Uttara Kannada, like Gokarna and Mazali beaches the fishermen families have started accepting tourists as homestay guests. My home is one of them; I had a guest from Scandinavia who stayed for a week and helped us in processing the fish catch for drying and value addition, she even helped up in paper work for transport consignment of the finished product. A week later, her husband came to visit and they both stayed with us for 4 days before leaving for Goa,” said Ranjan Mazhalikar, a fishermen community leader.