OpenStays, an AI startup co-founded by Sandeep Hegde, an alumnus of KLS Gogte Institute of Technology (GIT), Belagavi, has won two tourism awards in September. The five-month-old company, which is backed by investors from Belagavi, helps homestays, hotels and resorts take bookings directly from guests.
On 27 September, World Tourism Day, OpenStays was named Best Tourism Startup at the Karnataka Tourism Awards 2026, given by the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka and the Karnataka Tourism Society. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Tourism Minister K.J. George presented the awards at a ceremony held at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru. Co-founder and CTO Sunil Kumar KS received the award on behalf of the company.
Ten days earlier, on 17 September, Mr. Hegde received the Tourism Innovation Award for OpenStays at the third Tourism Convention of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in Bengaluru.
Mr. Hegde completed his engineering at GIT and ran business ventures in Belagavi before starting OpenStays. “Belagavi is where I first learnt to build a business. It feels good that some of the earliest people to back OpenStays are also from Belagavi. They believed in the idea when we had only a small team and a clear problem to solve,” he said.
Addressing the awardees in Bengaluru, Mr. George, Minister for Energy and Tourism, said, “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.”
The problem OpenStays works on is one the founders faced themselves. In 2021, Mr. Hegde and co-founder Pallavi Bhat started Areca County, a family-run stay in Honavar. They expected online travel portals to bring in most of their guests. Instead, most travellers found them on Google and then called or sent a WhatsApp message to book. According to the founders, this is how a large share of small stays in India still get their guests, including the homestays and farm stays that have come up in and around Belagavi in recent years.
Direct bookings save the property the commission charged by booking portals. But, as the founders found, they also bring a lot of work. Every enquiry turns into a conversation and many arrive late in the evening, when the family is serving dinner or checking in guests who have just arrived.
“Is a room free on Saturday? What is the rate for four people? Is breakfast included? And then, can you reduce a little?” said Ms. Bhat, who runs operations at OpenStays. “We answered these questions every day at our property, often late at night. If we replied the next morning, the guest had already booked somewhere else. We realised almost every small property owner goes through the same thing and most of them do not have the time or the staff to reply at once.”
OpenStays aims to take over this work while leaving the owner in control. Its AI assistant runs on the property’s existing WhatsApp Business number. Owners continue to use the WhatsApp Business app on their phones and the AI’s replies appear in the same chat, so they can follow every conversation and reply themselves at any point. Owners also choose when the AI responds. It can reply at all hours, only during set times such as 10 pm to 8 am, or only when nobody from the property has replied within a few minutes.
The AI answers using the property’s own rates, room availability and house rules. It sends quotes, follows up with guests who go quiet after asking the rate and collects guest details before arrival. Guests pay the property directly through UPI or the property’s own payment gateway. OpenStays does not take a commission on bookings and instead charges a subscription for its software.
It also bargains. The owner sets the lowest rate they are willing to accept for each season and the AI negotiates within that range. Where a discount does not make sense, it can offer something else, such as free breakfast or an early check-in.
“In India, a guest who asks for a discount is not being difficult. That is simply how we buy,” said Mr. Hegde. “An owner should not lose a booking because they could not reply in time or did not want to haggle at 11 in the night. The AI does it politely, within the limits the owner has already decided.”
The company is now building a voice assistant that can take phone enquiries in Kannada, Hindi and other Indian languages, as many travellers still prefer to call.
OpenStays Private Limited was incorporated in April 2026 and is recognised by the Government of India as an AI startup under Startup India. It was founded by Sandeep Hegde, Pallavi Bhat and Sunil Kumar KS.
About OpenStays
OpenStays is a Government of India recognised AI startup that provides booking software for homestays, hotels and resorts. Its WhatsApp AI answers guest enquiries and negotiates rates on the property’s own WhatsApp Business number, while its booking engine lets properties take direct bookings through a link or their own website, without paying commission.
Website: openstays.org