OpenStays, an AI-powered booking platform for homestays, hotels and resorts, was honoured as the Best Tourism Startup at the Karnataka Tourism Awards 2026 on 27 September, World Tourism Day. Chief Minister Shri D.K. Shivakumar and Tourism Minister Shri K.J. George presented the awards to the winners at a ceremony held at Palace Grounds, Bengaluru. Our Co-Founder and CTO, Sunil Kumar KS, received the award on stage.
We are still taking it in. OpenStays Private Limited was incorporated only in April this year and is a Government of India Recognised AI Startup. On 17 September we received the Tourism Innovation Award at the FKCCI Tourism Convention and now this, just ten days later. Seeing our company name called out on that stage, among the people who shape tourism in our state, is not something any of us had imagined so soon. It was a proud evening for all three of us and for our families, who have put up with our long working hours.
About the Karnataka Tourism Awards
The Karnataka Tourism Awards are given by the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka, in association with the Karnataka Tourism Society. The awards recognise good hospitality, visitor experiences, responsible practices and new ideas across tourism in the state. This year there were 42 awards across five categories, covering hotels, resorts, restaurants, tour operators, guides, naturalists, heritage attractions, museums, venues and technology innovators. The awards were supported by the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation, Jungle Lodges and Resorts and Incredible India. You can read more on the official website.
Where AI fits in
Addressing the awardees, Tourism Minister Shri K.J. George said, as reported by The Hindu, “Tourism must move beyond digital marketing towards a fully connected digital ecosystem that improves the entire visitor experience.” He added, “We should use Artificial Intelligence not merely to make tourism smarter, but to make it more inclusive, sustainable and meaningful. The benefits of this transformation must reach not only large companies, but also homestay owners, tourist guides, artisans, small entrepreneurs and young people.”
Homestay owners are right there in that list and that is exactly who we build for. A big part of tourism in Karnataka does not happen in large hotels. It happens in a coffee estate homestay in Chikkamagaluru, a family-run hotel near Hampi, a small resort on the coast near Karwar. The owners of these properties work very hard and a lot of their day goes into answering the same questions again and again. Is the room available? What is the rate for two nights? Can you give some discount? Where should I send the money? Many of these messages come late at night, when the owner is busy looking after guests who are already at the property.
This is where AI sits at the core of OpenStays. Our WhatsApp AI replies to guest enquiries using the property’s real availability, rates and policies. It sends quotes, follows up with guests who went quiet after asking the rate, can even handle the usual bargaining and helps collect guest details before check-in. The guest books directly and the payment goes straight to the owner. We are now working on voice AI that can take enquiries in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and many other Indian languages, because a lot of India still prefers to pick up the phone and talk.
Sunil Kumar KS says, “When we started building OpenStays, we had a very simple picture in mind. A homestay owner in a village should be able to take a booking at midnight, get paid and sleep peacefully. Our AI is there to answer the guest at that hour with the right rate and the right availability, so the owner does not have to. The warmth of a good host cannot be automated and we do not want to try. We only want to take away the repeated work, so owners have more time for their guests. Getting this recognition from the Government of Karnataka tells us we are on the right path.”
We feel this award is shared with the owners who use OpenStays. They trusted a young company with something as important as their bookings and their guests. Much of what we have built so far came from their feedback and suggestions over WhatsApp.
We thank the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka and the Karnataka Tourism Society for this honour. Thank you also to every homestay, hotel and resort owner who uses OpenStays.
The award will find a place in our office, but the work does not change. We will keep sitting with owners, understanding how they actually run their properties and building AI that fits into their day instead of adding to it.
If you run a homestay, hotel or resort and want more bookings directly from your guests, we would be happy to talk to you and show you how OpenStays can work for your property. You can reach us through our contact page.
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