Curious case of Chindarkars

RTNE partnered with Rang de to test the hypothesis if by “Investing small amount of money and resources to improve home stay infrastructure can substantially increase the revenue per available room”.  We would like to mention the case of Swami Samarth Beach Resort; its a 3 room a home stay run by Chindarkar family in Devbagh village in Malvan Taluka of Sindhudurg District.

Chindarkar family, like most of the fishing families is a joint family consisting of 3 brother and their dependents. With increase of number of fishing boats and commercial trawlers the catch per day has been going down day by day and has forced people to shift their focus from fishing to other as livelihood options. Areas, like Devbagh, Tarkarli have taken up to tourism as additional source of income and have started letting their existing infrastructure [one or two rooms in their house or out house] to tourist or build one or two additional rooms for the travelers.

The facilities are very normal and have been basically conceived based on the owner/family’s exposure. The result; firstly, considering the basic facilities, home stays by and large can charge very nominal and secondly perishable commodities such as rooms are always subject to negotiation by the customers. However initially, there was some positive cash flow but with change in consumer preferences [quality conscious, need hygienic facilities], more and better tourism infrastructure/facilities in the destination, the tourist traffic came down significantly at such stays. There was not enough cash surplus to maintain the infrastructure and home stays got trapped into vicious cycle, in order to attract tourist they started charging less price and therefore further less cash surplus. Some families built very small rooms with the resources they had and spoilt the ambiance. Chindarkar family who was selling rooms at Rs. 600/night during peak season and as low as Rs.200/night during off season thought differently; instead of adding three more rooms, they opted to improve the existing facilities.

RTNE in association with Rang De provided them Rs. 25000 /- loan and gave exposure and training to provide better services. The result was visible immediately, the rates went up to Rs. 900/night during normal season to Rs. 1200/night during the peak season.

Chindarkar family highlights following are the benefits of working with RTNE:

• Quality customers.
• No price negotiation.
• Low maintenance.
• Less customer dissatisfaction.
• More cash surplus.
• A loyal customer base – more referral clients.
• Increase in social respect.

There are many things to learn for the local community from the case of Swami Samarth beach resort which has taken lead in building Devbagh as sustainable Rural Tourism Destination.  RTNE will be replicating the model through its DMC network.