Is there such a thing as ethical couch surfing, and does it matter?

A recent Ethical Consumer report looked at travel booking companies and ranked them by their ethical and environmental standards. The authors found that many of the major booking platforms score low on environmental and financial behavior. Likewise, many accommodation providers show poor ethical and moral behavior, as they prioritize economic goals and market values (profit) of their owners, shareholders and investors. No wonder, standardized accommodation options don’t hold much excitement for many, since they don’t provide opportunities to meet locals or have a memorable experience and don’t consider the questions of sustainability, responsible travel, fairness, equality and justice.

Hospitality exchange was meant to change that. Those who choose hospitality exchange / couchsurfing (verb), to stay overnight in someone’s else’s home while traveling, hope to share something with their host. This might mean sharing /cooking a meal together, sharing time, and learning together, learning about each other, each others cultures, each others lives, and learning more about the town or city they you come from and live in. It is mean to be an equitable exchange — an exchange of equals.

The idea is simple: people who join hospitality exchange networks offer their homes to travelers for free, in return for the opportunity to stay for free at another member’s home when they travel. This way, everyone involved can save money on accommodation and get a more authentic experience by staying with a local host.

BeWelcome.org launched in 2007, and invited would be travelers and those who could host them to look beyond market values. Non-profit and free to use, the platform continues to offer an alternatives to mainstream hotels, hostels and rentals like Airbnb for the inter-cultural experience and memories a stay in someone's couch or home can generates. It remains inclusive, diverse and democratic, with over 210,000 members in 187 countries.

Since then, a number of platforms have emerged that offer to connect you to locals, and a place to stay. What should you look for when choosing an hospitality exchange platform? Should it matter? What is fundamental to you?

Values

Do you want a a free place to stay? Is that the most important value you want to emphasize in yourself? Is that what you want from your host? A potential hook-up? What values do you want the platform and its members to live by?

We here at BeWelcome.org say that responsible travel and platform values are central to hospitality exchange.

That’s because of how hospitality exchange platforms emerged, the concept of hospitality itself, and the morality of for-profit planforms. In short, such platforms emerged from the the non-profit, peer-to-peer community, where values such as reciprocity, mutual aid, DIY ethics and self-sufficiency, communal sharing and radical altruism trumped all others. These values means BeWelcome remains were open to all, regardless of ability to pay, ability to offer ‘hotel like’ comforts, regardless of what language you speak. All you needed was some floor space, before deciding to ‘Open Your Door To The World.’

However, for profit platforms have taken control away from the community, and the tools they use by adding fees, ads and taking control over how the community operates, communicates and organizes. They have undermined the values of hospitality exchange, and pitted the host and the traveler against each other.

Before choosing a platform and choosing to stay with a stranger, ask yourself:

• Is the platform a c-corporation (for profit)?
• Are they free or paid? If a fee is involved, where does it go? Does it go to the owners (or investors)? Hospitality exchange has non-profit roots, a peer-to-peer system, based on communal sharing and reciprocity. Is is right the host has to pay?
• Does the platform seek in-app or additional fees for full use? (such as verification)?
• Does the platform use third party tracking? Use the tool blacklight (a live Website Privacy Inspector) to check.
• Does the platform embed ads (advertising) on the platform?

If you answer yes to the above, you may have become the product, you, the host, their home, and the experience of hospitality exchange.

Additional Tips for travelling responsibly through BeWelcome.org

• Travel with less climate impact. Choose destinations you can get to by train, coach, and ferry rather than flying and use the same transport options when moving between hosts.
• Are you seeking to lower the impacts of the food you eat while away? Cook a meal for your host — a vegan or vegetarian meal.
• Stay longer at destinations. That might also mean staying with a different host in the same city/destination.
• Explore your travel destinations by bike or on foot.
• Think about visiting hosts living in the suburbs or outside the city you are visiting, if there are good public transportation systems, bike or car-sharing offers.
• When staying with a host, think about energy-saving measures. Don’t leave the heat on, wash small loads in the machine etc., without asking/informing the host. The cost of energy has increased dramatically, and these costs are borne by your host.
• Hospitality exchange is not about free accommodation and your host is not a professional host. Communicate in advance about sleeping arrangements and travel light.
• BeWelcome.org is not a dating site, and sending creepy messages, and being disrespectful to your host or guest will tarnish your reputation, and may get you reported to the safety team. Check your privilege. Don't complain that the pillow is lumpy, or the food they offer you tastes funny. Their home isn't a tourist attraction.

Finally, think about giving back to the platform, whose tools enable hospitality exchange!

Happy Traveling and Hosting,

The volunteers at BeWelcome.org

#couchsurfing #bewelcome #couchers #trustroots #bewelcome #hospex #homestay #sustainability