Chandrapur: The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), located in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, has signed an MoU with short-term lodging platform Airbnb to boost homestays and build community-based tourism around the reserve, officials said on Thursday. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbnb India Pvt Ltd was signed in Nagpur in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 29 on the occasion of International Tiger Day. It aims to help homestays attract more domestic and international visitors, said an official release.

Nearly 100 homestays operate in and around the tiger reserve’s buffer villages, the release said, adding that under the partnership, Airbnb will hold training workshops for homestay and bed-and-breakfast hosts. In the first phase, 30 homestays have been selected for training, it said.

TATR Field Director Prabhu Nath Shukla said that community-owned homestays are central to sustainable ecotourism and the arrangement will enhance livelihoods, visitor experience and conservation through community participation.

Airbnb’s country head for India and South-East Asia, Amanpreet Bajaj, said the MoU aims to make tourism flow directly to communities, making it sustainable.