Couchsurfing

Abstract

Couchsurfing.com is the facilitator of an online hospitality exchange network that enables participants to engage in a moral economy based on the non-commodified provision of accommodation to strangers and personal relations of trust and intimacy. As such, it positions itself firmly in the space of alternative tourism, which focuses on slow tourism experiences characterized by deep immersion in the local culture and meaningful interactions with locals and stands in stark contrast to the profit-orientation of mass tourism. The focus is on meaningful connections with people and places, which, ultimately, increases tolerance for diversity. Couchsurfing.com offers its members five recommendations on how to travel in alignment with Couchsurfing values: sharing generously, connecting with stranger to become better people, offering kindness to signal respect for diversity, staying curious to continue learning about people and places, and leaving behind a better world than the one Couchsurfing travellers found upon arrival.