Homestay tourism in Nepal and its socioeconomic impact in rural areas

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the socioeconomic impact of homestay tourism in Nepal, since homestay tourism has developed as community-based tourism in Rural areas of Nepal. This study investigates how homestay tourism contributes to the Nepal’s economy, assists local lifestyle, livelihoods, income generation, employment creation, and cultural promotion. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to provide detailed information and an understanding of homestay tourism. The data was accumulated from various homestay programs of Nepal to analyse the generation of income, employment, and the growth of tourism, as well as the qualitative aspects of local community empowerment, cultural exchange, and promotion. To achieve this, the researchers conducted a case study of ten homestay programs of Nepal and a survey among the owners of different homestay units. We would like to thank Ms. Sazza KC, the Product Development Expert of Community Homestay Network, Kathmandu, for providing us access to contact the owners of a total of nine homestays of different parts of Nepal. We would also like to thank Mr. Dandapani Dhakal for providing us access to Raniban Homestay to collect data, and Mr. Sagar Dhakal for assisting us to collect data from other nine selected community homestays of Nepal.