Himachal Pradesh needs to emulate Europe and turn residential houses partly into guest houses to cater to tourists, a business chamber says.

"Countries like Austria and Scotland maintain a very efficient 'bread and basket culture' for tourists," said Yashwinder Singh, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (PHDCCI) resident officer.

"It involves giving financial and logistic support to help locals maintain homes with the basic facilities for housing tourists," he maintained.

According to him, the model would serve twin purposes: as a major source of income to countryside residents and slow down damage caused by relentless construction of tourist resorts.

"Like Europe, 'bread and breakfast' accommodation should be listed, supervised, controlled and advertised to local tourist information centres, so that tourists can be led to staying in these budget locations," he warned.

"This would also help locals generate money and help preserve the environment."

In a bid to attract more tourists, PHDCCI has also appealed to the state government to declare deserving villages as "heritage villages" on the lines of Paragpur in the scenic Kangra valley.

This would help create much-needed village infrastructure and offer the visitor an opportunity to taste rural life.

--Indo-Asian News Service