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Journalism of Courage
IT looks like just another Konkani house with a sliding roof and a wooden attic. Yet, what makes it different from its clones across the lush green supari bagar 8212; betel nut orchards 8212; is a small marble plaque at the entrance. Hotel Nisarga Sagar, announces the plaque. The structure represents the new generation ethnic hospitality hub, the latest gift from coastal Maharashtra.
Nandakumar Avalskar8217;s Hotel Nisarga Sagar is one of the many that are unfolding a new chapter in ethnic hospitality business, re-establishing itself with changing times. 8216;8216;We had to shed most of our inhibitions in opening our own homes to the tourists,8217;8217; says Avalskar, a retired army person-turned-hospitality baron. And there are many more Avalskars dotting the palm-fringed Konkan beaches. There were a few families, especially at holy places such as Ganapatipule or Harihareshwar, who used to accommodate the devotees, but this has now extended beyond rituals-related hospitality.
There have been minor changes in traditional houses, with many owners redoing interiors to install a few refreshing facilities.
Dive Aagar in Raigarh district alone has 25 such ethnic hospitality hubs. There are also a chain of households welcoming paying guests down south up to the shining white beaches of Sindhudurg, says Veena Gokhale, a tour organiser from Pune. 8216;8216;We started sending tourists to these families about five years back. A few like Avalskar have picked up well,8217;8217; she adds.
Most of these house-hotels are tucked amidst well-outlined betelnut or coconut palms and mango orchards that traditionally stretched up to the shore. The charges too are moderate for the typical middle-class clientele of these house-hotels. Average rates are Rs 200 for a overnight stay, two meals, breakfast and tea.
Ethnic tourism, was a policy much talked about by the Maharashtra government and its tourism wing MTDC, only to be later shoved into cold storage but has been revived by these marginal private players. The State government also spoke of checking migrations from Konkan, mainly to Mumbai. Now a few of these migrants are returning to their villages with new business ideas. Economic experts feel that the revived hospitality business could stem migration and bring Konkan out of its money-order economy.
