Sustainable homestay initiative in Nepal

The Tangting Community Homestay initiative in Nepal brings together several families offering visitors an authentic ecotourism experience. In collaboration with PUM, they worked on improving the homestay services, promoting their concept, and enhancing sustainability with a focus on waste management and a clean environment. Thanks to a contribution of the Hans Blankert Fund, several female homestay owners received laptops to improve their online marketing.  

Tangting Community Homestays Committee comprises 14 homestays, run exclusively by women. The beautiful village of Tangting is hidden in the lap of the Annapurna and Lamjung mountains, along the Pokhara Kahu River. Visitors are welcomed into the households, receive organic local food, and get the opportunity to experience various tourist attractions and events. The initiative, supported by organisations such as the Nepal Tourism Board, Madi Municipality and the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), focuses on structurally improving the quality and sustainability of the homestay programme. 

In 2023, Mr. Prakash Om Gurung from Tangting approached PUM through representative Lajali Bajracharya. PUM expert in ‘Hospitality: tourism and recreational services’, Jean van der Hoeven, visited Tangting in May 2023. Together with the team, he improved the effectiveness of their homestays, focusing on attracting more international tourists. Jean provided training in the field of hospitality, cleanliness, and waste management, and visited the homestays to offer individual advice. 

A year later, Jean returned for follow-up workshops on various topics. During a hospitality training he focused on quality services in a safe, clean environment. The subject of tour guiding included concepts of historical heritage, cultural and traditional life, and sustainable tourism. Additionally, he shared his knowledge on destination marketing, social media, and storytelling. 

Hans Blankert Fund 

Together with the client, Jean applied for a grant from PUM’s Hans Blankert Fund. This fund provides small contributions for machinery, equipment, or tools to enhance business innovation, growth and sustainability. The Tangting Community Homestay Committee received a contribution to purchase laptops for female homestay owners. The laptops are an excellent tool for maintaining contact with the guests, and producing posts, reels and stories for social media. This investment boosts the homestay activities and generates more income. The laptops also enable the homestay operators to communicate about sustainable tourism practices to their guests, supporting the local economy in the village. Mrs. Rosh Maya Gurung, a homestay owner in Tangting, comments: “The laptop is very important because this is the time for internet and technology. It makes it very easy for me to follow developments on tourism and homestay-related topics. It’s nice to have for guest registration and marketing purposes.” 

Social and ecological impact  

The collaboration with PUM has led to significant social and ecological improvements in the community. During his stay in May 2024, Jean observed increased awareness of waste management and its effects on the environment. The village is now cleaner, with better roads, improved streets to the homestays, clear signage and a new entrance gate to the village. Jean was impressed by the positive energy in the village and how people are determined to move forward. The receipt of the laptops has strengthened the position of women in the village, empowering them to use digital tools to market their businesses. 

Mr. Prakash Om Gurung, Community Homestay Committee: “As the Community Homestay Committee of Tangting, we are very pleased to receive the laptops for the women who run the homestays. PUM’s Hans Blankert Fund has played an important role in this by providing a financial contribution of 50%. Thank you very much, ‘namaste’. In these days, in addition to being literate, everyone must also be digitally literate. The laptops will certainly make an important contribution to this and ensure that Tangting is put on the map as a unique destination and a place to visit.”