Airbnb partners Jaipur NGO for local experiences, promotes women employment

Airbnb, the home stay aggregator platform, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation (PDKF) in Jaipur on Monday.

Through the partnership, the two will work together to help PDKF women become Airbnb hosts by sharing their homes or their passions with travelers from around the world, thereby creating economic empowerment opportunities for women in rural parts of Rajasthan that don't usually benefit from such opportunities.

The initiative is part of the experiences category of Airbnb, which lets users stay with local people and understand a local craft, activity or unique experience.

PDKF and Airbnb will also partner to create social impact experiences to promote local culture and unique handicrafts made by local women in Rajasthan.

Airbnb also has partnerships with Self-Employed Women's Association of India and North East Tourism Development Council.

This partnership perfectly embodies one of Airbnb's core values of enabling local communities to benefit from the growth of tourism. PDKF has been instrumental in bringing Rajasthan's artisans, culture and heritage to a global audience, and we look forward to showcasing Rajasthan to the world, said Chris Lehane, Head of Global Policy and Communications, Airbnb.

Under the MoU, the PDKF and Airbnb will promote micro-entrepreneurship among rural women in Rajasthan by providing skill development training to help them becoming hosts on Airbnb, identify and increase the network of homestays and unique accommodations in Rajasthan available on the Airbnb platform, and create two social impact experiences, which will highlight the state's architecture and local culture, with the proceeds going back to local communities.

Airbnb will also support some PDKF initiatives under Project Shiksha Diya with the aim of providing digital literacy to young women and als provide financial aid to support the Digital Scholarship Program under Project Shiksha Diya.

Airbnb will donate all profits accrued from the two social impact experiences to the PDKF to further empower rural Rajasthani women through the organization's initiatives.

Rajasthan has a legacy of strong women who have overcome societal biases to prove their mettle right from the medieval times. It is only fitting, in this context, for us to develop a program, which will help our women become entrepreneurs, said Princess Diya Kumari, founder of PDKF.