THE inaugural ASEAN Homestay Standards Award to be presented this Friday will honour 40 quality homestay operators from South-east Asia who will be able to use the recognition in their branding and marketing communications.
Eight ASEAN member countries, with the exception of Singapore and Myanmar, will nominate five homestay operators each for these awards, said Ong Hong Peng, Malaysian head of NTO delegation and secretary-general of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily in an interview, Ong said: “(The award) is a significant development as it shows the progress of the development of homestay standards, while sharing best practices.”
Winners will be promoted through the ASEAN tourism marketing website and social media platforms, and the efforts are expected to help homestay operators market their products and draw more local and foreign guests.
All award recipients must fulfill the ASEAN homestay standards which were established based on inputs from ASEAN NTOs, covering areas such as accommodation requirements, cleanliness in food preparation, provision of environmentally-friendly activities that do not have a negative impact on the environment, and involvement of guests in local activities.
Malaysia was appointed the lead country in 2010 for the development of the ASEAN Homestay Standards and it implemented the programme in full last year.
Homestays promote rural tourism, revitalises the rural economy, and provides additional income for the rural population.
For the first 11 months of 2015, some 64,599 international tourists visited and stayed in Malaysian homestays, of which 22,065 had come from South-east Asia.
Read more ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2016 stories in the digital edition of our Show Dailies here.
