To encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of the state, OYO has partnered with the government of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to launch a state-wide initiative – ‘Crown of Incredible India’. As part of this, OYO will also partner with the government’s ‘Mission Youth’ programme to open home stays across 75 villages to promote entrepreneurship and create self-employment opportunities.
The Mission Youth initiative of the J&K Government provides a platform to local youth under multiple schemes. It offers financial assistance, last-mile infrastructure and accessibility to promote sustainable livelihood. This initiative includes supporting the provision of Livelihood Generation, Skill Development, Education, Counseling & Rehabilitation, Sports and Recreation etc. In its efforts to promote rural tourism, ‘Tourist village network’ includes 75 villages that have been identified on the parameters of scenic beauty, landscape, cultural diversity and heritage and OYO will provide its tech platform to onboard home stays and boost the local economy.
J&K Govt under Mission Youth will support 500 youth for establishing home stay and INR 50,000 financial assistance per home stay will be provided for refurbishment. The venture will help in building a tourist infrastructure of world standards in rural J&K.
The ‘Crown of Incredible India’ project was inaugurated by Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and aims to help operationalise up to 200 home stays in Udhampur, Srinagar, Jammu, Anantnag, Doda and other underpenetrated districts in the next year. The project will expand its network across 75 villages under ‘Mission Youth’.
OYO will assist in the training of existing and potential homeowners on responsible hosting, hospitality standards, hygiene and basic amenities. OYO will provide a constant stream of guests to these home stays by listing and promoting them on OYO’s customer app, which is the world’s third-highest downloaded travel app. In addition, the homestays will also be listed on OYO’s website and multiple Online Travel Agent (OTA) platform.
The homestays owners will also be able to use OYO’s technology to run the operations and customer service through the company’s simple to use home-owner facing Co-OYO app. This partnership is a part of OYO’s ongoing efforts to boost tourism across India and empower underserved communities in the process.
