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90 pages
Vastly growing online free-hospitality networks are a phenomenon of modern times. They have been already subject of social and peace studies, here explored from the perspective of information science.The main focus in this research, author puts on the role of information in modern society, particularly on access to information and information management as prerequisites for participative and democratic society.Both theoretically and empirically, author explores first the changes in society that were caused by popular usage of Internet, secondly introduces the phenomenon of free-hospitality as an example of modern social network, lastly explores in details functioning of these networks and throughout whole text the role of information in here.keywords: CouchSurfing, hospitality club, free hospitality, sociology, tourism, internet, gift exchange, gift exchange trust, free, couch surfing, modern society, structure, free values, free culture, sociology, sociology of tourism, socjologia turystyki, wymiana darów, struktura społeczeństwa, warm showers, pasporta servo, servas, BeWelcome, home exchange, homeshare, hospex, hospitality exchange, open couchsurfing, opencouchsurfing, OLPC, L/GHEI, gościnność, intimate tourism ...
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European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences, 2020
It is easy to answer this phrase. If you use the less social networks, you will be informed about the promotions of tourist offers, especially in those areas that offer many opportunities for tourism development, as there are many tourist spots whose visits can to be the focus of many potential visitors. What we will stop talking about are the attractive activities that take place at different times and as such are of great importance in attracting potential visitors. All our research relies on the data collected at the Dukagjin Regional Tourism Center, which develops its activity in the tower and mill of Haxhi Zekdh in Pejё, and at the same time through a questionnaire that we have conducted in private businesses in the Rugova region, more about the topic you will be able to get informed later.
The European Journal of Applied Economics, 2015
Communication strategies with the consumers of tourism products and services have significantly transformed in recent years with the advent of social media and online information. According to numerous authors, social media represent a hybrid form of traditional integrated marketing communications with the increased effect of WOM (word of mouth) communication, which enables the exchange of information between users/consumers. The transparency of social media provides the hoteliers with necessary feedback and opens up new communication channels. Modern consumers possess greater knowledge and higher expectations than before. The purpose of the research conducted on a sample of mountain hotels in Serbia using web metrics was to determine guest perception and satisfaction with the hotels at the most popular Serbian mountain destinations. The results show that social networks can be used successfully by service providers to improve the understanding of guests' needs, as well as to enhance business performance and revenue. By maintaining long-term relationships with guests, hoteliers can build stronger and more enduring connections that will result in new purchases and more efficient WOM (word of mouth).
Tourism in Southern and Eastern Europe, 2021
Purpose – The accelerated lifestyle has led to changes in the way of traveling. The development of technology and the internet has created the opportunity for online contact with people from all over the world, so we can say that traveling has not been this easy and affordable so far. People choose shorter trips, meet the locals, learn about their culture and customs. The paper looks for the benefits of using the Couchsurfing network and its aim is to present the motivation of respondents from former Yugoslav countries to use the network during travel, as well as to host travelers at home. Methodology – The questions for the questionnaire were acquired from the research done by Liu (2012), while the authors entered the offered answers based on a review of the Couchsurfing.com site. Couchsurfing users received online questionnaires via private message and through groups. The questionnaire was also sent through Facebook private messages and posted in private groups. Findings – Based o...
Lucrări Științifice Management Agricol, 2017
Social networks are widely used in areas such as marketing and communication, among the first industries to which was observed development of business being the tourism. In this industry, social networks can have a significant impact on the decisions taken by tourists concerning the destination. More than half of potential tourists and not just in our country are planning their vacations asking the opinion of other users on social networks. The huge increase of social networking user accounts in Romania (9.6 million at the beginning of 2017) created a potential to be used more efficiently by everyone in the hospitality industry to improve their reputation and customer loyalty.
2014
Hospitality exchange (HospEx) networks – online platforms facilitating the connection between a traveler and a local resident – embody many of the cyber-utopian promises intrinsic to the Web as it started out 25 years ago. Such sites have often been conceptualized as a new and daring trend in a booming ‘sharing industry’ and have been researched for topics such as trust, reputation, and online identities. Yet, a more critical look uncovers that crucial issues of ownership, power, digital labour, and organizational structures have often been left out. To fill this gap, this thesis investigates upon the antagonistic struggle between the commons and processes of commodification in the light of critical theory and political economy. The research shows that examples with characteristics of both concepts are manifested in the niche social networking space of HospEx platforms. The biggest of those platforms, Couchsurfing.org, changed its organizational orientation from a non-profit, commons-based project towards a for-profit company in 2011 – an instance of commodification. An analysis of both quantitative and qualitative community data shows that the transformation consequently concerns a member on multiple levels. The structural change of ownership results in a loss of transparency and privacy, an alteration of the platform’s integrity, a sacrifice of the ‘uniqueness’ of the community, and a differing relationship between the user and the platform. To shed light on an antagonistic force and suggest an alternative, community-based governance approach, the work further explores the specifics of a platform guided by the logic of the commons. Interviews with volunteers of the non-commercial, non-profit HospEx platform BeWelcome.org helped to deepen an understanding of how a digital commons can be sustained and what challenges they face. The thesis concludes that the developments observed on Couchsurfing are not an exception but rather characteristic and part of a broader trend manifested in all areas of digital media, and indeed modern society in general: commodification processes frequently jeopardize the commons and incorporate them into the logic of capital.
CouchSurfing is currently the most popular hospitality exchange network among travellers. As an online/offline community, it presents a curious development in people's engagement on the Internet and in “real life”. As people have become more mobile and flexible in a globalized world, the impact of new technologies on our lives can be felt now more than ever. Especially people who like to be on the move seem to have many more options to choose how they want to travel, what they want to do and whom they want to meet during their stays. The advent of online social networks gave people the possibility to gather around a specific interest and form communities that are both virtual and physical, which in the case of CouchSurfing led to a worldwide phenomena of hosts and surfers who are willing to open their doors to strangers, to meet new people and share their lives with them. This research aims at exploring CouchSurfers' search in travel, how CouchSurfing can meet these needs and the mechanisms which make the platform so successful among mobile people. Through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and online research, I examine CouchSurfers' motivations for using CouchSurfing during travel and the implications of online social networks for travellers, their sense of trust and belonging to a community. With this study I hope to contribute to the scarce literature on online/offline communities, especially hospitality exchange networks, and how they affect travellers, social cohesion and identification processes.
Couchsurfing as an emerging tourism business and Marcel Mauss' Theory of Exchange (Atena Editora), 2024
La investigación aborda una práctica social mediada por la red social virtual de viajeros denominada Couchsurfing. El objetivo fue identificar los principales intereses y motivaciones por los viajes haciendo uso de la red Couchsurfing, con referencia a la Teoría del intercambio de Marcel Mauss. Esta investigación descriptiva transversal de enfoque cualitativo utilizó una muestra no probabilística, aplicando entrevistas a profundidad no estructuradas focalizadas a tres segmentos de sujetos: dos relacionados con la red, viajeros visitantes (o Surfers) y anfitriones; y otro más que serían los turistas no usuarios de la red. Los resultados puntualizaron la relación estrecha del reconocimiento y la retribución, elementos básicos de la operación del alojamiento Couchsurfing, fueron analizados elementos complementarios de multiculturalidad y seguridad surgidos en la investigación como parte fundamental del modelo emergente concluyendo con la evidencia de la relación existente entre la teoría del intercambio y la operación de esta modalidad de hospedaje
Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference - Sinteza 2016, 2016
The Internet presents one of the most important media in data transferring and its use is constantly growing. Almost 40% of the Serbian population uses the Internet and more than 3 million inhabitants have active profiles on Facebook. Serbia has been registered on the Internet since 1996. According to numerous research, tourism, just like a Serbian tourist offer, is part of that service category whose presentation, distribution and purchase are greatly carried out on the Internet. At the early beginning of the rural tourism development, a limited number of households were involved in this type of tourism and later it has grown massively due to the Internet and tourism associations advancement. During 2014, Serbia made 2200 overnight stays showing its position in the first phase of the rural tourism development. The National Tourism Organisation of Serbia has included this type of tourism, which has been neglected for over the past fifty years, giving it priority in its programme. Due to the website www.selo.rs, National Association of Rural Tourism of Serbia has become an active representative in the European Federation of Rural Tourism Development. Today, many social networks have great importance in promoting tourism services.
The book provides unique insights into the culture of computer-mediated hospitality and how this has begun to transform contemporary tourism and travel practice. Focusing on Couchsurfing.org, one of the largest online hospitality communities worldwide, the authors explore how social relations, intimacy and trust are built in the online environment and then extended into the offline contexts of actual tourism and travel. Being active couchsurfers themselves, the authors scrutinise the candid claim by much of the online hospitality community that couchsurfing creates a »better world«. The book is key reading for anyone interested in how computer mediated communication is changing contemporary forms of contact, travel and hospitality, and the kinds of cosmopolitism it brings into being.
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The research shows that information acts as a security measure and operational backbone in free-hospitality networks, enhancing user trust and community engagement.
The study reveals that while the Internet facilitates connections, it also risks social isolation, with online interactions sometimes weakening family communication.
Users report personal growth and cultural exchange as benefits, while some experience issues like inappropriate advances or mismatched expectations.
Different networks, such as CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club, utilize diverse verification methods, including ID checks and user references, impacting trust levels.
Emerging post-World War II, these networks evolved from informal exchanges into structured organizations, reflecting societal shifts towards globalization and peacebuilding.
Ekonomia i Prawo, 2014
The article presents the analysis of opinions of active tourists who are the members of a hospitality exchange network, as well as people who do not belong to it, on the subject of the importance of trust and its influence on the development of modern alternative tourism based on the idea of the couchsurfing in Poland. The following has been analyzed: 1. the level of trust of the couchsurfing.org website users (CU) in relation to other members of the community, 2. the causes of not using the possibilities of the couchsurfing.org website by active tourists who are not its users (NCU), 3. the relation between recommendation from people who are the members of the couchsurfing.org community and the possibility of activating people not interested in the website within the couchsurfing. The research has been conducted by a survey method. Analyzing the obtained data it has been stated that a typical CU in Poland (=110) is a working man at the age of 24-29 with a higher education, inhabiting mainly big cities. It is a single person declaring a good material situation. He also knows one foreign language in a communicative level. CU indicate that difficulties in planning and accomplishing a longer trip as well as the lack of the sense of independence during a journey are the main drawbacks of trips organized via a hospitality exchange
Revista de Turism: Studii si Cercetari in Turism, 2018
The changes intervening in the information technology field, especially in the Web 2.0 terms, have activated the communication, promotion and collaboration between suppliers, business partners and consumers of touristic services alike. All these changes led to the development of new marketing practices oriented on the online area, which represent nowadays a cornerstone in designing an economic activity of a tourism organization which aims to consolidate its position in the section market. The necessity of existence and operationalization of a clear guidance of online promotion is a trend that, at least for now, has not been adequately exploited by the tourism units from Bucovina region (situated in North of Romania). The online growing competition – as it breaks the conventional barriers at a local, national and international level – constrains the tourism operators to develop a coherent policy of Social Media Marketing (SMM). Therefore, the major aim of this study is to highlight t...
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - memSIC, 2011
What is the meaning of the practices arising from social networks of hospitality that emerged at the beginning of the 21th century? Can we consider it as a resurgence of hospitality as in the original sense of the word? Can these new practices be read as the search for a redefined and more intense experience of otherness, for the welcome of others, for a movement towards Derrida's unconditional hospitality? Or are their motives focused on personal and more "egocentric" needs, such as the economical asset of being hosted for free, the opportunity to experiencementing authentic emotions, develop emotionally, or break out of isolation?
The book provides unique insights into the culture of computer-mediated hospitality and how this has begun to transform contemporary tourism and travel practice. Focusing on Couchsurfing.org, one of the largest online hospitality communities worldwide, the authors explore how social relations, intimacy and trust are built in the online environment and then extended into the offline contexts of actual tourism and travel. Being active couchsurfers themselves, the authors scrutinise the candid claim by much of the online hospitality community that couchsurfing creates a »better world«. The book is key reading for anyone interested in how computer mediated communication is changing contemporary forms of contact, travel and hospitality, and the kinds of cosmopolitism it brings into being.
This article introduces a collection of ethnographies that develop innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to CouchSurfing.com, a free online hospitality exchange network. The growing popularity of CouchSurfing poses significant questions about the way hospitality is performed in an era of digital communications, online social networking and alternative travel. The studies in this issue bring fresh insights to the sociological and cultural significance of hospitality in a networked world by offering detailed accounts of the new possibilities and new problems that emerge when complete strangers encounter one another online and accommodate one another offline. This article introduces the concept of ‘network hospitality’ to highlight some of the features that make CouchSurfing and similar social networking sites such a compelling topic of research for critical hospitality studies.
Julia Maria Koszewska