BeWelcome — why it remains a non-profit hospitality exchange.

Hospitality Exchange: a form of accommodation whereby visitors stay in a house or apartment of a local of the city to which they are traveling.

In 2007, volunteers launched BeWelcome, with the promise we would be a different kind of hospitality exchange, a democratic, open-source, free to use without restriction, volunteer led and run, and a permanent non-profit means of exchanging hospitality. We kept our promise.

At that time, technology driven hospitality exchange felt primitive, fresh, thrilling and world-changing. Meeting others from across the world because of the mutual value given to no-fee hospitality was wonderous. Staying in their homes seemed miraculous. Back then, members knew the founders of the platforms, the code was written by volunteers and there were no mobile apps. Lots of stuff didn’t work, servers crashed, donations were raised. The excitement, hope and inspiration in the area, gave rise to dozens of new planforms, and catered for every niche. From traveling musicians, to creatives, and women hosting women, to traveling start-up entrepreneurs, free hospitality exchange was trending. Even Airbnb saw the opportunity for a new type of pay based peer-to-peer platform.

However, in the rush to scale, many hospitality exchange platforms lost sight of a model based on hospitality, trust, spontaneity, communication, community and kindness. It was a model built on interactions between travelers and hosts, and often meant sleeping on floors, beds, sofas or couches, sharing a meal, or simply time. It became replaced with venture capitalists, credit card fees, unwarranted address and identity checks, top down management, CEOs and new revenue generating schemes.

Building tools for you, not for profit.

A peer to peer platform is largely based on its scale and network affect, and for many, the best hospitality exchange must be the biggest one. Many platforms went fast, scaled up and took on investment, but in doing so; they often broke their members trust by switching business models. They often closed down member voices and removed community tools, before charging fees, embedding targeted ads and adding paywalls. They showed casual disregard for what hospitality exchange stood for —the simplicity of hospitality exchange for all — without restriction — for those who believe and value it. They left their members behind.

In this mindless rush, BeWelcome sought to protect user privacy, embed transparency and establish ethical guidelines, to ensure no-free hospitality exchange survived — all for an annual budget of less than $2000 a year. In doing so, we never scaled up, and never sough to. We were not the first hospitality exchange planform, never the latest new thing, and may never have the nicest landing page. However, we never lost sight of the precise risks of turning to profit, to technology, to virtue and value signaling, to the market and outside investors. More importantly, we have always understood that those who value hospitality exchange are a community whose values are substantial and durable. In their search for ethical and moral encounters across the world, their choice of platform makes a collective difference and it matters. Their voice matters and should be heard.

It is the collective power of choice that hospitality exchange should be free, and empowering to all that seek it, that allows BeWelcome to survive without an office, staff, or a large budget. It is choice that attracts travellers, hosts, volunteers and donations to BeWelcome. Its that choice that ensures the hospitality exchange values and the community that support it survive.

Advice

Because of COVID-19, its hard to think about travel and meeting travelers or locals. There is a time you will. Hospitality exchange will continue to be a beacon of hope and trust in futures unknown, and in the possibility of a better, more equitable world after the pandemic.

When using hospitality exchange, don’t just consider how many members a hospitality platform has, but the business model, who owns and runs the platform, their mission, purpose and values. Do the owners and management communicate and listen? While we’ve kept our word, if BeWelcome ever lost sight of the communities values, we can safely assume that they wouldn’t stay. Nor should we try to keep them. Your platform choice makes a difference, even if that means choosing to leave one platform for another.

#Ten Reasons to join BeWelcome.org