An Analysis of Socio-economic Characteristics of Homestay Operators in the Darjeeling Hills, West Bengal

The study analysed the socio-economic characteristics of homestay operators in the Darjeeling Hills, West Bengal. A total of 100 operators were selected from ten major ecotourism sites in Darjeeling. The results revealed that 56 per cent of operators were male, and 44 per cent were female. The majority of the respondents owned pucca (56 per cent) or semi-pucca houses (72 per cent), indicating a good standard of living.Around 87 per cent used a mix of LPG and firewood for cooking. They owned different types of homestays, namely: Semi-pucca (72 per cent), pucca (23 per cent) and wooden (5 per cent). Around 60 per cent had started this business recently and had the experience of less than five years. For the initial investment, around 56 per cent of them used their savings, 31 per cent borrowed from formal sources and 10 per cent from informal sources, while only 4 per cent received financial assistance from the government.