The Tourism Department under the Goa government has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbnb to jointly promote the state as a high-potential tourist destination for the world.

The partnership is aimed to develop and promote sustainable tourism ecosystem in Goa. Under this, both parties will work towards encouraging travel to unique and lesser-known destinations in the state and also to provide support to Goan homestay hosts in delivering quality tourism experiences to guests.

The MoU was signed between Goan Minister of Tourism, Shri Rohan Khaunte, and Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager, Airbnb India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.This MoU includes key aspects relating to the enhancement of the potential of the state tourism industry.

It is further expected to be beneficial for scaling up sustainable livelihood opportunities for the local communities and augmenting the hospitality sector of the state. The key takeaways of the MoU include:

• The Goa Tourism Department and Airbnb will collaborate to highlight unique/lesser-known locations for travellers to discover. This will be done through specialized promotional campaigns of both international and domestic levels.

• Airbnb will further work towards the development of state's hospitality sector by conducting workshops and seminars to train homestay hosts and B&B owners on the importance of responsible tourism, build host capacity, and create awareness of the local laws.

• In order to assist the Department of Tourism in making progressive policies to promote responsible tourism in the state, Airbnb will share global best practices, periodic travel trends and insights related to homestays from time to time.

The announcement pertaining to the signing of MoU was made on the sidelines of Airbnb's 'Rediscover Goa' celebration, which kicked off December 12 onwards and will continue till December 18.

Furthermore, the celebration will offer more than 20 specially curated unique Airbnb Experiences hosted by local experts highlighting the eclectic culture, rich heritage, musical traditions, culinary delicacies and thriving landscapes of Goa across the Northern and Southern districts of the state.