CouchSurfing as a Hospitality and Tourism Phenomenon (Case Study Sample)

COUCHSURFING: A CASE STUDY
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CouchSurfing: A Case Study
Introduction
The 21st-century business world heavily relies on technological advancements, and the hospitality and tourism industry is a perfect example of such businesses. Travelers and tourists use technical components such as the internet to access information regarding their new areas of visit and overcome their geographical limitations. For example, the internet has given rise to a unique hospitality and tourism phenomenon called CouchSurfing (CS). Despite its ambiguities, this social platform is increasingly seen as an alternative form of decommodified hospitality provision.
This case study entails CouchSurfing as an emerging hospitality phenomenon and its implications to travellers and the hospitality and tourism industry in general, and the database aspects it raises. The paper starts by introducing the notion of CouchSurfingand a brief discussion of its history. Then the article proceeds to highlight how the phenomenon has evolved to become a decommodified hospitality supply industry and its ambiguities. The case study summarises the paper's findings and offers final thoughts regarding CouchSurfing and its implications on the hospitality and tourism sector.
Definition of CouchSurfing
The term “CouchSurfing” has been defined differently by different authors. According to Niezgoda and Kowalska (2018), CouchSurfing refers to a social media organisation that coordinates online meetings over the internet to offline meetings in person. This way, it acts as a tool for providing traveling experiences to users before the actual tour. In another context, Dellisanti (2014) views CouchSurfing as a type of decommodified, alternative tourism based on a moral economy, defying standardised, commercialised, and an impersonal capitalist exchange mode. The phenomenon, therefore, incorporates moral economy notions such as generosity, cooperation, and mutual help, thus representing exchanges out with monetary lines. Botsman and Rogers (2011) agree with this definition and add that CouchSurfing entails "collaborative consumption," where users apply online peer-to-peer networks in sharing their assets, particularly their touch. This definition leads to the notion that CouchSurfing is shifting from hyper-consumption to sharing and from ownership to accessing material resources (Cooper and Timmer, 2015; Botsman, 2013).
Despite the existing disparity in the definition of CouchSurfing, all authors agree that it is a form of website that facilitates the exchange of hospitality among global travellers. The only thing required is registering as a member from where one can meet with people from their desired destination and request free accommodation. Instead of booking a hostel or a hotel in the targeted area of the tour, the traveller uses the website to meet with the locals of the tour site, where they are offered accommodation at their homes during the tour (Steylaerts and Dubhghaill, 2012). Therefore, CouchSurfing offers two primary benefits to the users. First, the traveller avoids incurring the accommodation and upkeep expenses they would have accrued if they had booked a hotel or hostel. Second, the traveller is received and treated as a family member, making them ‘feel at home away from home.
The History of CouchSurfing
The notion of CouchSurfing was created in 2004 by an American called Casey Fenton together with the SNS founders. In the context of an event, Fenton emailed students in Iceland requesting accommodation in their homes, which could offer physiological and psychological comfort (Roberts, 2015). Interestingly, Fenton received an excellent offer from this request, after which he narrated the cultural experiences he gained from the potential Icelandic hosts (Roberts, 2015). This experience led to searching for alternative lodging to avoid the expensive standards established by common hospitality intermediaries such as travel agencies.
CouchSurfing began as a non-profit SNS providing the benefit of free accommodation globally with no