The Indian State of Maharashtra introduced a policy to improve women’s entrepreneurship in tourism and ensure safe journeys for women travelers.
On May 30, the State of Maharashtra cabinet ministers approved a “women-centric tourism policy” to boost women entrepreneurship in the tourism industry and make the state more welcoming for female tourists.
With Mumbai, beaches, mountains, wildlife, forts and temples, Maharashtra is one of the most visited states in India.
A Women Tourism Policy Cell will be created under the Directorate of Tourism to implement the policy.
It consists of a five-point program that includes the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship, the creation of infrastructure dedicated to women, prioritizing the safety of women tourists, customizing products for women tourists, and providing discounts to women travelers.
The program will financially help women set up tourism businesses, and they will benefit from a flexible loan repayment scheme.
The government of Maharashtra will pay the insurance of women tour guides registered with the Directorate of Tourism for the first five years.
Moreover, the directorate will register women-owned tourism businesses, from homestays, hotels, and restaurants, to tour and travel agencies so that women travelers can find safe places to enjoy their stays.
For International Women’s Day, all businesses registered with the directorate will provide a 50 percent discount on online booking to all women tourists every year between March 1 and 8. There will be 30 days per year when 50 percent discounts will be granted for women’s online bookings.
The cabinet also approved women-run bike-taxi services in some tourist spots in the state.
The government’s work on a women-friendly tourism policy was announced by Tourism Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha last November. The government wanted to answer to the increasing number of female solo travelers with women-friendly places where they would feel safe.
Mid-May, the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, sent a letter to the Maharashtra State Commission for Women claiming that 70 girls and women went missing per day since the beginning of 2023. He called for reinforcing measures to ensure women’s safety.
With 112 million people, the State of Maharashtra is yet described by Ambadas Danve as progressive and a leader in India for women’s safety.
On Thursday, the government of Maharashtra relaxed a significant restriction imposed on women property buyers. If they benefited from reduced stamp duty when buying a place, one percentage point less than the 3 to 6 percent of the property value applied for men, they couldn’t sell it to men for at least 15 years. The restriction has been removed.
