Alternative Accommodation and Its Potential Effects on A Destination - A Study on Puducherry Region

Tourism in the Union Territory of Puducherry is showing signs of recovery after a long period of stagnation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to officials from the Ministry of Tourism and representatives of the hospitality industry, the number of tourists is increasing, which brings new opportunities and various challenges for the host community and the tourism industry in the region. With a paradigm shift in tourist flows and tourist concerns about post-pandemic travel, this research effort highlights emerging gaps in the hotel market for host communities, tour operators and policy makers, with a particular focus on the alternative accommodation sector in Puducherry which has a unique physical distribution of the properties in close proximities with local residential areas and within community neighbourhoods. Alternative accommodation plays a greater role in catering visitors to Pondicherry than classified hotels with more than 95% of the tourist accommodation falling under the unclassified hotel segment. This gives rise to the question if alternative accommodation really is still an alternative in Puducherry. Unlike many other tourist destinations that have classified hotels and resorts of established groups and chains with star categories constitute the major chunk of the hospitality sector. Operating alternative accommodations can present opportunities for immediate economic benefits to the host community, while also being challenging, such as, safety and security, pollution (air, noise, water, culture pollution, etc.) within the host community and the location of the alternative accommodations. This study uses an exploratory research approach to interpret and analyse the current phenomena; the full data used for this study was obtained from secondary sources. The authors analyse government statistics, programs and strategies and attempt to examine various business models based on qualitative and statistical data collected from various sources, trying to identify as many post-pandemic opportunities and challenges in the alternative accommodation as possible. Additionally, it presents some factors to consider when venturing into the tourist accommodation business. The study aims to provide significant implications for ensuring the sustainable development of the hospitality industry in Pondicherry.