Staying Without Paying Heading Towards Free Tourism?

CEU eTD Collection In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sociology and Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology Social and of Department Sociology Heading towardsfreetourism? Supervisor: Professor Judit Bodnar Staying without Paying without Staying Central European University European Central Social Social Anthropology Budapest, Hungary Lucian C. Luca Submitted to Submitted 2007 By CEU eTD Collection tourists share. tourists strive to overpassand post-tourist, the and tourist the the between literature gap in the drawn being are by that pointingdistinctions at some of the similar theclear-cut address research of this conclusions the patterns Nevertheless, touristic consumption. of consumption which touristsall that are formed around these twosites adopt amore sustainable and more critical form of of boundcommunities loosely thatthe article argues this of ‘neo-tribe’, the concept Maffesoli’s Using growth. fulminating their to contributed that factors the at look to and CouchSurfing Internet-based networks that promote this sort of alternative tourism: HospitalityClub and examine onto two then goes gift-exchanges. Thestudy basedupon one economy tourism with of alternative tourism category outof heterogeneous strand tourism very selected the tourism.birth of This alternative pushes for the replacementfirst analyzes of the some money of the to explain this for study lasttrying tourism.rapid the this expansion, In economy decade:decommodified basic aspects within of thethe tourismsphere industryof and then goes on to follow the Abstract This paper looks at one strand of alternative tourism that has witnessed a great boom inboom has at looks witnessedagreat tourism that This paperof strand one alternative I CEU eTD Collection REFERENCE LIST REFERENCE CONCLUSIONS ALLHOW ITWORKS METHODOLOGY PERSPECTIVES ONTOURISM PERSPECTIVES INTRODUCTION Intercultural exchange: tapping the local knowledge resources knowledge local the tapping exchange: Intercultural Community building: can tourist participate? Decommodified accommodation& generalized reciprocity Rules of the network members &the credo Networks’ Institutionalization: grass-roots move to the sky exchange hospitality and Internet The Alternative economies: gift exchange Commodification : Pay perview To every age its tourists, to tourists their freedom Tourism in the 20 the in Tourism tourism of modern birth The My hypothesis of my research Architecture My subject th century II 58 55 27 24 49 44 38 35 30 28 19 18 13 11 10 6 1 6 5 4 3 CEU eTD Collection those changesaimed modernthose that exploding2000) thecategories of fluidifying (Bauman at and institution. this of alternatives 301) hasbeen focus the of much attention andfew criticism but studies have addressed the shieldtraveler and to from the visitor unpleasantaspectsof the urban living” (Newman 2002: Thisenvironment. bubble, described as“a welldefined partof town designed envelop to the much due toliving homethe of comfort thatwould inabubble carefully the surroundingregulate have andstill sensations novel experience exotic places, visit could whereone excursions, group longpatterns. social of some the established altering bringcommentators to intoquestion ‘tourismthe inis syndrome’ Franklin(Bauman 2003)that into a spill-overandbutmore realmsthe spaces,life, some effect of hasprompted everyday undergone agreatmetamorphosis has been of that traveling and tourism. hasmobility before.which of dimension Oneparticular never encountered population dynamics billionsmirror, into of whichhavepieces beenshatteredall over the world, birth givingto of golden global ofmobility precepts our age. Thecategory has exploded, asan Andersenian Nevertheless, with the permutations taking place in Western societies at large, especially at societies in Western place taking permutations the with Nevertheless, for organized preference byaclear mass wascharacterized tourism The beginning of Not onlyhas tourismthe industry boomed last half for the morecentury and colonized Keep moving, keep up or be prepared to be leftbehind. This seemsbe to one of the “Nowadays we are all on the move” (Bauman 1998: 77) Introduction 1 CEU eTD Collection and thus supersede the fruitless debate between travelers vs. tourists. vs. debatebetween travelers fruitless the supersede and thus “visitors 1 Bauman, and (1996) Maffesoli of what characteristics much of the in and lifeshares real Internet the both on born being is that community global This expand. to continue will it that are signs capitalism, industry, thetourism has gained momentum with spreadthe of Internetthe andthe of from bastions the of one within economy gift-exchange the of reconfiguration resurgence and for a for knowledge not exchanged aloose aresharedand sort price butof The reciprocity. decommodification strive to forge a global community of tourists promote that networks tourist The alternative tourism. of alternative sphere inemerging the coupling of commodification and istaking tourism most fascinating place, the exponents “tourist”the finds himself in caught his searchfor “leisure away from home” (Böröcz1996). decry it in ishas union sothat traps fetishized, the almost become anacademicfashion to which capitalism, this late of With advent the one. immutable isan andcapitalism tourism between in about 20 tourism the literature the (MacCannell 1999; Urry 1990) and it the commercialized side of (Cohen 1988a). When reading consumption (Saarinen 1998). the post-tourist. If mass-tourism was about consumption, post-tourism is about critical metaphor usedformove describing in this hasbeen from tourism of that switch the touristthe to of modernity itself (Beck hasbeen 1992),there asimilar aparadigm inshift tourism. The social thoseaimingbeing organization, aswell as at and self-critical grounds reflexive aboutthe I prefer to opt for the non-ideologically loaded definition of tourists given by Eurostst, according to which they are they which to according Eurostst, by given tourists of definition loaded non-ideologically the for opt to prefer I who stay at least one night in collective or private accommodation in the place/country visited”, place/country the in accommodation or private collective in one night stay at least who Departing from such an approach, I believe that there are instances where an an de- active where instances there are believe that I approach, an from such Departing traveling aspects of commoditized the ontourism emphasizes literature Much of the th century, one has the impression that the interlocking the that impression the has one century, 2 1 , where couches, trust and trust , where couches, CEU eTD Collection through a stranger Internet.the through Why in host agree would anybody his house, lethim to sleep on is presence other’s each about out find they way only the and other each know not do networks accommodation membersother to without demanding any inmoney exchange. offer members their means that this precisely, free.More for services their they that offer visit” ( making for“worldwide network[s] between connections local andtravelers communities the they locals”( and together...travelers phenomenon. touristic Western mostly a thus makingit Europe Western andCentral from area,especially Atlantic from North the members are together they membershave over 500,000 all scattered the around majority vastworld. The of selected areHospitality inClub and created CouchSurfing, 2000 andrespectively, 2004, and networks Ihave that organized two promotingde-commodification. aroundof active the The are that virtual networks Internet-based two investigated my of I purpose For the research operate. tourism within hospitality of commodification and over-commercialization the against My subject forms of organization. (1991) of social contemporary the ‘neo-tribal’ previous, character the describe on building as www.couchsurfing.com large these of members the After all, such actions? behindmotives whatare the But Theirfosterspecified goals“intercultural are to understanding...bringing people The aim of my paper is to look at how these counter-hegemonic movements that work ). What sets them apart from other touristic institutions is the fact www.hospitalityclub.org 3 ) and they describe themselves as CEU eTD Collection with members from both networks in Europe. The fieldwork was a multi-sited one, with oneworkings. part For this purpose I will also present the findings of fieldworkthe that Ihave conducted logic its and andinvestigate tourism alternative i.e. decommodified tourism, of alternative narrow of single focusthe one The next element category ever-growing the beto step will upon mass-tourism. in mannerto has asomewhat parallel and converse ittourism andhow unfolded alternative to focus my change then will I commodification. core: its at lies that element main the inspect especially and studies, in tourism ofmass phenomenon the structure the briefly analyze I will first discuss appearanceandthe ofmass-tourism evolution in modernthe Iwill times. fieldwork with members from both CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club. alternative tourism and also by complementingArchitecture ofmyresearch it with of 25%)? over increase acumulative thealone,witnessed they data that but what keepingexplains year2006 the course of working expansion (in rapid them their I have gathered going, networks in improbabilities of Andnot only spite is all of their existence? the what in my strings attached” isa “no and of reciprocate, behalf an of there recognition obligation on explicit membersto the no is there as improbable, is rather this policyNonetheless, home. his to traveling when hosting, for anybody decidingfollowing? to join histhese couch, and spend time him? with And allof free, forthis with nofinancial obligations networks. So what keeps these To begin with, because alternative tourism has evolved in direct contrast to mass-tourism, to contrast has evolvedin direct tourism alternative begin because To with, on literature existing the by surveying questions these address My researchwill is one by person the same treatment receive is the to purpose the argue that might Some 4 CEU eTD Collection tourism. by a moreleadbrand sustainable more can responsible to promoting also consuming practices, of and networks in the involved thepeople of empowering have advantage the decommodification neo-tribes. of Maffesoli’s bears characteristics many the that of loosely coagulated, community, a tourist of creation the lead to economy can market the from sphere of the their removal withinfield the certain of tourism and parts I argue decommodification of the that Therefore, tourism. of especially and life (post)modern of commodification complete the of constraints the of some eschew can one where instances novel are there that suggest I tourism. of realm and commodification. from commercialization therecanbe definingthe andtrendsto feature, contrary, whichmovethe away anyinstances is 1992) (Böröcz experience” of raw travel “commercialization the as one where seen basically My hypothesis networks. these bubblemass-tourism of as forwell fosteringas asense of global forcommunity themembers of touristic the from travelers freeing for both has, tourism alternative of kind this that change for thepotential my inquiry,of consider I will After presenting the results took roleof the guest. I where Vienna) and Rome, Paris, Madrid, (Berlin, Union European the of touristic attractions and cities insome of locations capital main the in ofmy parts different andresearch other the members for other Hungary, asahost Iacted inBudapest, where beingconducted of research the These touristic neo-tribes mainly These neo-tribes mainly by touristic defined for preference their conscious The hypothesisguiding ofmy is is research de-commodification that withinpossible the The guidingmy principleof research istoinvestigate if thewithin field of tourism, 5 CEU eTD Collection grouped under the heading of proto-tourism. The defining characteristics of very otherwise of this defining characteristics under heading The the grouped proto-tourism. of revolution and modern shiftthe mass-tourism to and thesedifferent have been strands usually tourism. mass- is that within embedded ethos capitalist the of rejection a conscious ideas their reflect of most and mass-tourism, of logics the against reaction adirect are networks These alternative backdrop of mass tourism,alternative againstthe is tourism that defined consideration into fact the traveling, taking one is obliged to take account first and foremost, of mass-tourism.modernThe tourism birthof off as a discrete activity, contained tidily at specific locations and occurring during set aside periods (2001:6). become a significant modality throughwhich transnational modern life is organized…it can no longerbe bounded tourism brokenhas away from itsbeginnings as a relatively minorand ephemeral ritual of modern national life to empathized in studies.tourism As Franklin andCrang point out: In Europe, certain aspects of tourism have existed long before the advent of the industrial the of advent the before long existed have tourism of aspects certain Europe, In discuss of networks andinfrastructures begin wantsto To with,if alternative one and argued been continuously has society contemporary our for tourism of relevance The Perspectives on tourism 6 CEU eTD Collection common with the tramping tradition than with the Grand Tour one. theGrandTour than with tradition with thetramping common in has more tourism as alternative contemporary I believe that important this historical difference find tramping the I tocontemporary tradition. tourism: historicalprecursor of evidence another eighteenthmore recentstudiescentury, (Nash Towner 1988),Böröcz amongst1981, them, bring and seventeenth the of aristocrats young European the of tradition Tour Grand inthe rooted as been mainthe designated mass appearanceand causefor the of development tourism. in transportation inand the improvement standardsthe oflivingfor ahigh number of people have leisurenonessential Thus, couplingtechnological of travel.”(p.713) the as advances consumption wages spenton such types of of valueto surplus amount of a certain mentions “thetransfer also author this the change, to Complementary large distances. across movementpeople of cheap and fast for the necessary infrastructure technological the of creation the and capitalism industrial (p.709) commodity,in resulting the geographicalmovements of people forpurpose of the consumption.” the in travels to trade whichtheconsumer “iswith leisuretype of that migration which commercialization In experience”ishis raw travel of equated understanding,(1992:737). tourism and normalization “standardization, upon: isbased mass-tourism that issues salient most the improvement. personal and self-quest on emphasis its with voyage, of tradition French the as well as travel spa and health pilgrimage, religious of traditions the mention can one tourism of forerunners the Amongst people. of group a at specifically aimed structures, its andthelackof category elitistare nature specialized heterogeneous Although inAlthough earlyyearsthe of tourism originsthe mass-tourism research of have been early the to migration modern tourism/leisure the emergence of the traces The author József analysisBöröcz’s (1992,1996)of birththe of modern tourism inaddresses Europe, 7 CEU eTD Collection mind astonishing similarities to contemporary situations: viewing][the of tramping asan education (1985:343).of sorts” implicitly, hence, and cosmopolitanism, tramp’s “the are mentions Adler that values main the values highestAmongclass couldthe realizeof 344) some of class the culture” dominant (1985: “[t]ramping perhaps generalizations: of was one in which youth fewactivities the of poorer the focus inbringstourism, back class foron isremarkable to study whichtends the overarching of between the different ways in which peoplelabor-related youthfrom practice to a leisure pursuit of the middle class.the various social declinethe of institution,the main the historical itchange that experienced was shiftthe from a strata travel. Thepassage, one that would take them to the higherway status of full grown and experienced sheadults. After In heydaythe institution,for many of this of youth engagedthe it init, a of rite represented status. (1985: 339) system, to regulate competition by geographically dispersing workers and delaying entrance to mastercraftsman English the like served, duty) (travel Wanderpflicht German the and France de Tour French the education, craft of completion necessary a as Justified craft. their in masters as certified being before years several for travel to required [O]n the Continent, tramping was linked more explicitly to anearly stage of occupational life, journeymen being in 1992: 711). Germany” (Böröcz part of craftsmen’spart of called training One description of the youth tramps in the 1930s on the territory of the USA brings to occur that andthevariances of class importance on the focuses perspective Adler’s Judith Adler: to According The institution of tramping represented a “compulsory long-term international travel as travel international long-term “compulsory a represented tramping of institution The tour deFrance 8 in France and France in Wanderjahr (or Wanderpflicht) CEU eTD Collection backpackers’ culture, butalso addextra ones, dueto more composition.their heterogeneous Iam that betourism networks thatare includemost found traits to of the researching in the 2006,Murphy 2000,Pearce&Foster (Desforges 2001, Murphy & The alternative Pearce 1995). educational institution, auniversity forof travel, acquiring and improving certainsocial skills holidays. forlonger inclination the schedule and traveling adjustable localpeople,amore especially other, meeting emphasis on the freelow-budget accommodation, or for me predilection for are:the destination journey with a flexible itinerary.” (Maoz2007:123) have generally been defined as “self-organized pleasure tourists on a prolonged multiples backpackers’ tradition shares muchin commonwith trampingthe institution. Thebackpackers directions, and other tips passed onby fellows.their (Adler1985:344) the during first few of travels…months their These youthkept notebookswhich they in names, recorded addresses, Urbaninorigin and seeking city destinations, they showed alively curiosity about tourist sights and historical places literaturebackpacking dealsinformal existingthe Much of an the with phenomenon as Some of the common characteristics that the twotradition share and which are interest of today’s that believe I connotations, search-for-labor its of much lost has it Although 9 CEU eTD Collection Tourism inthe20 the privilege of the few as the World Tourism Organization estimates thatby year2020,only the privilege of the estimates fewas Organization the Tourism World the passengers in flightabove the USA (Urry 2002). 300,000 areover there moment atany and year globe on the built every being hotel are rooms new million a half About employment. global and GDP global of percent 10 about for account said to are tourism domestic andInternational 2). &Judd1999: (Fainstein one” of to factor ten a by arrivals tourist international exceeded movements tourists domestic of volume overall “the million in Commission2020 (European 2004). report numbered414International million inarrivals inEurope about forecast2003 and toreach are 717 century. last in the tourists attracting been has that site main the been also has Europe andare doingMost of peoplethe traveling areEuropean (Williams the that 2000). &Balaz skyrocketed from 25millionabout in 1950, to160 million in 1970 and700million in 2000. has tourists international of number the estimates, Organization Tourism World the to according and Thus, thewithinWestern a large theUSA. Europe population of to improvement share Worldmassive Warand called 30yearduring economical the that so “glorious brought period” asmoregrow, andmore places marketed for are beingvisited (Holcomb 1999). The importance of tourism for Western societies has continuously increased and is continuing to Despite the high increases that the tourism industry is witnessing, tourism will still remain still will tourism is witnessing, industry tourism the that increases high the Despite isit that but estimated statistics, noclear are there domestic tourists, to itWhen comes It is by that estimated year2020, the figure1.5this will billions, reach about and rising The moment when the tourism industry really started to kick off was after the Second th century 10 CEU eTD Collection authors forauthors its lack of specificity and(Dearden academic vigor & 1994) Harron itself The of coinage has been bymany phrase ‘alternative tourism’ the severely criticized istourism (AT) merely one possibledirection, encompassing sub-categories. anumberother of alternative consequently, evolved have that tourism of forms many the Of 1997). Urry & Rojek intotourist amyriad of ‘post-tourists’ different sub-types (Urry and1990, Ritzer &Liska in and category morethe tours of andflexible holiday the thetourism useradapted explosion of to freedom their totourists Toage itstourists, every plays in establishing and sustaining social networks” (2002:258). travel that the role [augment] life social of contemporary nature ”shiftsinthe the that argues whichfreedoms” fuel (p.206) which, finally,Urry’sbuilding and argument, tourism; onBauman, people’s toplaceties whichin has giventurn “rise sorts tothe mobilities,of flexibilities and of authenticity Bauman’s (2003)claim(1990); thatthe‘liquid-modern world’ hasloosened search in individual is an tourist the that contention MacCannell’s it, to similar stage’; ‘liminality seeks that giveto his meaning to life by temporarily separating himself from itand entering into a as a tourism pilgrim ‘liminality’powerful:which thetourist portrays applied to Turner’s concept, most be the to consider I which endeavors those the of four summarize briefly will I question. for theanswertothis framework toestablish aconceptual attempts multitude of havebeen a foryear theshare 1996 of world’sthe population traveledabroadthat was only 3.5%. figure for the samestatistics, tothe According abroad. 7% of will travel worldthe population The main inmodern hasturn tourism been representedby from a shiftstandardized mass- whatfuelsBut thisgrowth, andwhy moremore people and do choose totravel? There 11 CEU eTD Collection parallel to the tourism industry and follows a logic that actively promotes decommodification. promotes actively that logic a follows and industry tourism the to parallel operating as aims DAT industry, the of part was and logic economic a strictly following still suggests is the removal priceof from relationshipthe linking the host and Thus, guest. if AT was also presents significantdepartures from originalthe model. as Themain itsdeparture, name lack of sustainability hypocrisy.and some strands of AT, especially ecotourism,have come under severe criticism,especially for their that could prove beneficialas a development for the toollocal used of communitiesAT, thereby was thespecial attention ‘rich’ given to North-South tofromrelations aid and this type‘developing’the of beginnings the In travelknowledge. intercultural focus upon anda andguest, host between connection was‘poor’ seen as well countries.as an empowerment Since strategy then, 253) or at the home of the in directly host accommodation receives ‘client’ the tourism “ AT: for alternative [i]n infrastructure of with, eventually,The other definition,othermore precise, is that of L.A.Dernoi, who points out the servicesessential importance and facilities offered tourism issmall-scale tourismthere.” developed by peoplelocal and based on local nature and culture.(1992:118). (1981: tourism, sustainable tourism, environmentally sensitive tourism, soft tourism, etc. Generally speaking, alternative [the] tourism literature has many different terms to describe this type of tourism: alternative tourism, appropriate definitions that can be found in the body of research on AT. Jari Järviluoma pointed out that: The decommodified alternative tourism (DAT) shares some features with regular AT, but AT, regular with shares some features (DAT) tourism alternative The decommodified personalized more a on emphasis the is in common have definitions these of both What For further clarifications and for narrowing down my focus, I will compare two 12 CEU eTD Collection differentforms in a commodified context (Olsen 2002). I do not wish enterto this discussion, as I disappearance whether 1964)or of authenticity canstill survive(Boorstin take authenticity and leads to the commodification was whether sparked this theme that debates heated the of One market. the into entry their about thus and value, exchange their to value use their from andexperiences by activities inand transformation things, changes ushered translation of the (1988:380). (and money],in services)” acontextof becoming [i.e.trade, theirthereby goods exchangevalue Cohen as “a by process be come evaluatedin to primarily (and activities) things which of terms a gettingcertain seeand to it.in to site “experience” order differentsomething thatthey had been seeing andhow before, they are encouraged topay for into seeing peoplehow asa understanding areeducated as tourist gaze”, heuristic device aimedat Urry “the 1999). metaphor of the extensivelyproposed byJohnUrry documented (1990, 1995, putting placesis onthemap/guidebook of potential the tourist the gaze,which hastourist been upon an area and mark it being for gazed upon.Themost important element which is involved in commodification seems to play an essential part; it is essential for the processesCommodification :Pay per view that lay claim will now attempt to clarify their significance, by looking more closely at how they operate. my I and to research are central decommodification and of commodification The twin processes the around revolvingbeen has moderntourism with literaturedealing the Much of Commodification or commoditization, as it is sometimes found, has been described by it, govern that mechanics the for and industry tourism the of erection the of course the In 13 CEU eTD Collection bounds. (Fleissner2006) dehumanizing,and butalso liberating andprogressive, room giving innovation forsocial by traditionaldestroying be demeaning can process] [This things. and people between relations by replaced are people between relations The withcommodification one cansee a change from personal relationship towards oftenanonymous market relations. level where: personal will focus here only upon those within the social sphere.tourism industry. The the by mainexploited and marketed cleverly changebeen have which obsession, and construction occursWestern at the inter- do not believe the question was asked right from the start. I prefer to look at authenticity as a audience: the tourist. the audience: of sort atadifferent which weretargeted hostelsmotels, similarinstitutions hotels, other and where in brought onecould stay aboutwhen industrial the appearance need,the revolution of it. forinns,besides pay Thus, thatwereproviding taverns thechurch and establishments aplace massive shelter provide anybody institutions it spreadof to seeking designedto and willing to probably modernityinvented, whatexisted money ever since haswas was brought about the relationships between peoplethe that lay behind the relationships betweenthings. (1998: 33) of reality the concealed that one world; modern the of excellence par fetish the as money saw Marx power. alienating and destructive ofits denunciation their and money against Simmel and ofMarx attacks the with familiar all We are And as Callon writes in the introduction to the edited book edited the to introduction in the writes Callon as And levels,I bringsdifferent but canbe commodification at studied that The consequences Although the commodification of accommodation is not a modern phenomenon, and has and phenomenon, a modern not is accommodation of commodification the Although 14 The Laws of the Market The Laws of s: CEU eTD Collection social social Insupportrelations. of his argumenthe offers evidence from writingsthe of such authors butinstead opted for lamenting the negative consequencesthatcommodification has had upon obvious thatfew have bothered to bring empirical evidence thatwould support their argument, of itso challenged” it researchersthathavehavethe (2005:24-25)Most considered with dealt (1957: 130) direction.” definite in expansion the checking countermovement by the met was movement this of modern movement:society themarketwas governed bya expanded double but continuously of early capitalism in his classical work classical his in capitalism early of maplimits to the attempt Karl to isPolanyi’s similar very endeavor His thesis’. commodification ‘the he calls what of proponents the of assumptions taken-for-granted the of many refutes Williamsof suffused andof life,C. andsocial economic data Colin excellently argued the work advancements of capitalism andthe extensionubiquitous commodification of within all spheres was themost that intelligent peoplefrom life” could expect (1996:293). melancholy conclusion in that modern society a highly reduced view offreedom and happiness modernin Max then,Weber’s tourism…confirms an tone:“Perhaps, equally apprehensive The concluding remarks from theirstudy of on ‘Interpretations the ascommodity’tourism ends driven, to of subjects dictates the commodity exchange (1996:283). andconsumption patterns” modern cultureconsumption of isgenerally, touristicmedia- consumption ‘sign-driven’ and “as inthe view on tourism: downhearted a andsomehow pessimistic andcasts tourism research of field in the done work the of part a vast for is symptomatic Cohen’s, to similar tourism, Williams argues that the ‘commodification thesis’ is a “meta-narrative that is seldom is that “meta-narrative a is thesis’ ‘commodification the that argues Williams Contrary to much of the work that discusses the close interconnections between between the interconnections close the discusses that work the much of to Contrary Watson and Kopachevsky’s the approach themefieldto of consumption the within of The GreatTransformation 15 : “[f]or acentury the dynamics CEU eTD Collection associations andon groups…or a one-to-one basis between individuals” The first (2005:49). members households eitherorganizations,for than through their This other own. of can occur non-monetized“unpaid author, the exchangerefers undertaken by household to members work apply to my discussion of the hospitality networks that form mostthe relevant for thecore current study. of my research. Thus,not-for-profit for monetizedas beingmade upof: non-exchanged/subsistence the work, non-monetizedthe exchange andthe exchange, I will focus upon the second directions. in all possible, dimension, as thisis other to the entity from one process of and translation coexist where that spheres commodified will be the Iwill(1998), nuance to try my leave spaceso asto approach amultitude for andmarkets non- of commodifiedis sphere not best the for solution coming up with an answer. Following Callon sphere. Nevertheless,mannerframes posingversusnon- insucha that thequestion the market the commodified the as size same the about has and is expanding contrary, the on but, diminishing, is notonly which sphere, a largenon-commodified exists there societies contemporary contradict approach. this that instances particular at those agency” (1996: 57) does notcompletely hold water, and the aim of my research is lookto exactly consumer has been transformed through commodity flows into a sign...a mask for the real seat of portionsgreater life’” of everyday Moreover, Appadurai’s assumption(2005: 23). “the that markettransientexchange’”, markets Gudeman(2001:144)[whoargues] and that ‘are subsuming a into interaction human istransforming ‘every “capitalism argue that who as CiscelandHeath Although Williams’s is definition believe vagueandallencompassing,rather it I that can Williams’From three-fold description non-commodifiedof sphere, which the is defined Contrary to the ‘commodification theory’, Williams convincingly shows that in our 16 CEU eTD Collection individual itsand role within society at its central point. attempt to move towards networks. thesehospitality of capital social through accumulation and thecirculation discuss I when host, the of satisfaction the of theme another the upon back come will I host. the of satisfaction paradigmbeinghospitalityis transferred and accommodation, while benefit mainprocess is the the from the socialby participants from the timethe giving.” spent (2005:52) sciences, obtained pleasures the are benefits process non-transferable The by others. servicesprovided the are benefits [output] transferable the exchange, onenon-monetized “[w]ith Williams, to According that locatesnon-transferable. second the while isbenefit transferable, first of type The benefits. process and benefits output benefits: of sorts the two between distinction the makes usually literature the exchange. monetized as is the case of the members of the Internet networks I am studying, is engaged in a formexchange, in of non- pay any for asking without guest his of care take to and person unknown an host to volunteering. Another dimension volunteeringof is unpaid reciprocity. Thus a person who agrees asinformal is known second whilethe as formal volunteering, to is referred instance Moving away from a strictly economic perspective of the non-monetized exchange I will I exchange non-monetized the of perspective economic a strictly from away Moving is that benefit output main the investigating, be will I that networks two the of case the In exchange, of sort such of benefits and costs the quantify to difficult more is it Although 17 CEU eTD Collection (2005: 407-8).Although “traditional” word the canbe misleading,makes and us thinkof past being:“[the] protection guestthe of by reciprocity, host, the andabatch dutiesof for both sides” being in given for return money, whilethefirst according operates adifferent to mechanism. is second the that fact the in lies difference main The commercial. and traditional types: two Hospitality as“the (Heumanof defined reception can guests” 2005: 407) and entertainment be of networks. betweenmembers of these interaction being in is exchanged and performed the receive them. to andobligation give presents obligation to presents, of main reciprocity characteristics: three inMauss, (Mauss institution instance. the “total Accordinghas 1990: 3) of to a certain services” simultaneously, “special to according forms of production and consumption...and of distribution” act that institutions of social network an intricate explicate to “total services” and phenomena” social “total terms the coined Mauss it. reinforce they which in ways the and solidarity social of investigate Hethenhow exchange (1990: 3]. on to forming contributeswent tothe gifts through self-interested” and constrained nevertheless but disinterested free and “apparently are only they zoomingin on actual the exchanges taking place within abovementionedthe networks. for tools, better tailored me with ofproviding advantage hasthe perspective anthropological look atthe theory exchange,of gift Mauss’sinto field. and especially the dwellings This gift exchange Alternative economies: Citing Aramberri, Heuman describes the three main features of traditional hospitality hospitality as of traditional features main the three describes Aramberri, Heuman Citing main that is the practice hospitality tourism, alternative caseof In the decommodified the free,gifts arenever the idea its that hadcore at Mauss proposed model that The original Another useful way of framing the non-monetized exchange or unpaid reciprocity is to 18 CEU eTD Collection types of classical economies, he affirms that: two the my Whilecomparing forideas research. inspiration of and source be agreat proven to has Smith 1999) and of “The Kollock’s (Kollock study on cooperation” economies online Peter theInternet. place: first in the existence networks’ the makes possible that infrastructure of the exchange The andhospitality Internet phenomenon. whole the affecting significantly without them skip to is possible it thus fulfilled, degree the but of upon constraint agentsthe tofollow them is significantly reduced, and to say that all of the 3 conditionsexchange from a total social(reciprocity, phenomenon to a total voluntary social phenomenon. By this, Imean obligation have that corrections bemadeto to model is to this thatof considering hospitality the downgrading give and to receive) should important most Oneof the networks. still hospitality caseof the andde-commodified DAT be some findingsof his have been beinexact, proven to I will try to refine hismodel and applyit to toreciprocate. obligation formal the of renunciation is the one important most the and hospitality, ‘new-age’ call would I what and hospitality traditional between differences important certain are there Nevertheless, customs andit societies, is mostly sort ofhospitalitythis is that being within exchanged DAT. The main cause for the transformation of hospitality can be traced back to the architecture the backto be traced can hospitality of transformation for the cause The main Mauss’sReturning model, to hisalthough wasmainly focus on primitive societies and 19 CEU eTD Collection number of members are the main ones. Thus, an individual one-to-one exchange is not always individual areexchange isnot number main members the of Thus, an one-to-one ones. in the vastness the and anonymity of ubiquity the changes, important most the Of economy. it gift-exchange has hadon the that consequences the hereon focusonly I will but economies, to muchsocial life conducted at-a-distance. (2007: 244-245) necessary are hosting and visiting traveling, Rather marginal. as beseen necessarily not should dispersed…tourism overlapping membership of different social groups, to a systemof networks where connections are spatially strong, was there where boxes, little from shifted have to North…seem and West the of societies rich The relations: Axhausen, he pushes for the recognition of the importance of tourism for reinforcing social analysis of my in the them of use extensive two make will and networks. pertinent and valuable be extremely to findings In his most recent article, probably prolificthis authoron most the themehasbeenbelieve Urry. John I hisin-sights and co-written with Jonas Larsen and Kay tourism. to lastthe crucial element Iwould that like analyze: to social networks within the field of discussion the advances both or real virtual, are whether they networks, of members the between social relations while commodity economies are driven by price. (1999:221-222) transaction, inwhich no obligationexists afterthe exchange is consummated…Thus, gift economies are drivenby whichthere is only giving and no receiving is unlikely to last. The contrast to a gift exchange is acommodity Gift exchanges should not involve explicit bargaining ordemands that the gift be reciprocated, but a relationship in The advent of the Internet has had a great impact upon both of the classical types of types classical the of both upon impact a great had has Internet the of advent The Social networks within the sphere of tourism are increasingly becoming tobe noticed, and formed are that connections myriad of the entails and a network that relations The social 20 CEU eTD Collection attraction. (1991: 249) continuing their to only thanks persevere They allegiance. permission or warning. [Neo]-tribes ‘exist’ solely by individual decisions to support the symbolic traits of tribal ‘membership’ that does require not an admission procedure authoritativeor ruling, thatca and be dissolved without ‘Membership’ is relatively is ‘Membership’ are that they are formed are they are that of Maffesoli, interpretation toBauman’s according ofneo-tribes, The main characteristics general members.make their people up workandthe that at networks tourism alternative decommodified framework for waysbelievethe is neo-tribelooking the the tribe. that I agood inwhich at neo- the of fits(1996)description Maffesoli’s thatperfectly one loose upon organization, a very based are societies Western of daily into the lives Internet the of since penetration the sprouted of the benefit is indefinite or very loosely specified in a certain social network. framingof this problemcouldbe thatof ‘delayed reciprocity’, where timethe span return the of Asimilarmember a way group. by of butby any other recipient, bethe necessarily reciprocated have not a person does to benefitone to given where ‘generalized exchange’, Elek’s conceptof balance might within occur asa group, the whole” (1999:222).Hebringsdiscussion into Peter a in which isa sense there be possible, not may individual aparticular with reciprocity balanced possibleeven and not highly desirable As within thenetworks. Kollock remarks: “while a “as conceptsthan rather integrated social bodies- by a multitude of The ‘new-age’ hospitality, especially and communitiesthe networks and have that easily revocable ; and is divorcedfrom long-term obligations; this is a kind of 21 seductive capacity. individual acts of self-identification They cannot outlive their power of power their outlive cannot They … CEU eTD Collection manner the connections between mobility and social capital mobility capital accumulation: social and between connections manner the Mobility andProximity, 10). (2001: occur” formulation makingpolicy which decision and andpower and through resources to generally refers to the set of norms, networks and organizations through which people gain access capital “social reads: Grootaert, Christiaan to belonging power to access emphasizes that one but inA very similar approach, Field& Barron, 2000). quoted Schuler shared objectives” (Putnam norms– enablenetworks, andtrustact that more topursue effectively together participants to definition of social capital, the most appropriate: “by social capital I mean features of social life – James Coleman (1991) andRobert Putnam I willbut (2000), focus hereonly on later. the (1979), Bourdieu has been:Pierre capital onsocial early to the debate maincontributors the as identified fathers founding of triad The extensively. this with dealt have that authors relevant higher rates of this kind of capital. But to clarify this discussion, I will briefly giving to rise is andtransformed, renewed capital social pre-existing turn wherethat network, join the to some of the capital. Imean to say that there is a certain configuration of social capital that makes some people as social have to is referred whatothers element This elusive keeps thememberstogether. that freeof network riders/surfers? becoming a avoiding offer free coucheswhile to both network continue cana how dilemmas: ComingJohn back to Urry’s in extensive research fieldthe of histourism, study on his and my analysis, for relevant most the consider I that one the is approach Putnam’s element is cohesive a certain there be that would dilemma to this answer One tentative social classical the of one it with brings exchange hospitality ‘new-age’ the Nevertheless, building critically building (2000), on Putnam’s critically analysis 22 addresses in adirect addresses CEU eTD Collection how all of these contribute to foster a sense of community for the members of of networks. members asensethese forfoster the of to community all how contribute these of and strangers between encounters life real to transferred then and Internet the of environment andnetwork how are they inreinforced of absence the classicalinstitutions. policing the of norms the are which use, can they sanctions financial any of absence the in members their of participation managesecure the active to networks tourism commodified alternative social and economic inclusion. (2002:265) both enhance that oftrust relations generate can co-presence from derived connections Such time. over endure that facilitating those face-to-face co-present conversations, to the making of links and social connections, albeit unequal, Mobility in general is central to gluing social networks together, while physical travel isespecially important in in disembodied the and aregenerated security how trust inspect Additionally,will I myI will investigate howThus, the de- discussions to try work, relatingto these 23 CEU eTD Collection around around intotheir entry networks, the motivationstheir andstrategies for using the networks, the interview. the of duration the throughout inquiry my to adjustments and changes necessary the make to me allowed interview of form this and advantage main isits Flexibility mine. as such enterprise, infrastructure affects this sort of networks and to contrast some of their features. newthe mesee towhatextent media to allowed interviews These last networks. based forbased hospitality network for hasbeen twoInternet- the which predecessor exchange, the interviews two members Servas, anon-Internet Additionally, of Ihaveconducted with Budapest. people I havepeople that I stayed hosted, that with and peoplewere passing other that through sites. two of the analysis observation and content interviews, participant weresemi-structured social two the networks a movingplace to whereIhad the opportunity to hostpeople. constituted focalthe ofmy joiningnetworkspoints coincided My theresearch. two my with are operatingin the field of DAT: Hospitality Club andCouchSurfing. Thereafter, they that mainin joinnetworks thetwo member andbecomeactive toan sphere of tourism, Idecided The main themes that I focused upon in the interviews I had with my informants revolved myinformants Ihadwith focused in interviews the upon I that The main themes interviewbemost forI believe anexploratory adequate the semi-structured to the interviewswith semi-structured 15 have conducted I months, 4 of a time-frame Over Besides some basic statistical operations, the main tools that I used to explore and map understandIn orderto how the themewithindecommodification is of out played the Methodology 24 CEU eTD Collection the two modes of modes of the traveling. two mass- in the differenttourism.contrast opportunities explore Icould and and offeredby Thus, possibilities tradition long a with Europe, of cities touristic main the also are they Additionally, CS or HC, and they are the most popular visited places for people who use these networks. hasEurope the largest share members of inboth networks (44.7% of CS and 60%in around HC). carriers). lost cost of routes (i.e. the infrastructure transportation of was andthisthe by determinedmainly order constraints the Bucharest-Vienna-Budapest, touristic infrastructure. My chosen itinerary was: Budapest-Berlin-Paris-Madrid-Rome- alternative limitsthis of the tested and thus HC, CSor from either people with only stayed touristic cities in Continental themaincapitals some of to week trip organize a3 to I decided Therefore, networks. Europe. The main condition inconsidered, tocorrect thisorder for lack,butitprovedinsufficientfor suchvolatile anddynamic the success of this trip wasuncovered that I and by that inout-of acting Budapest, aspects asahost important networksonly would someof the remain limits for my research.my hosts in Berlin, Paris, Madrid andSelf-ethnography Rome. during myfieldwork, in locationsdifferent around Europe.These interviews with wereconducted was one in with exception I conducted interviews wereconducted Budapest, interviewsof the that 4 of the options gaining,init, securing andreproducing a disembodiedthat mediumsuch Mostas of Internet. the the I forand techniques hastrust issueof the been I paidto attention that great element essential One networks. the using of experiences their and network the about narratives encountered The capital cities of the selected countries have the highest number of members both in both members of number have highest the countries selected the of cities The capital Amongst the reasons forfocusing on these places Iwouldlike tomention, first of all, that As membera of the network can choose between being ahost, a guest, orboth, Ibelieved 25 and CEU eTD Collection make use of examples from my fieldwork to illustrate them better. them illustrate to myfieldwork from examples of use make my and Iwill findings research of to the section dedicated for in interaction the as thepatterns other proved to be a fascinating process. Iwill discuss,length, at the translation processes as well the to medium one from translation the and cyberspace from only but life, real from members other the knew nobody almost that fact the was meetings these about interesting particularly was What and socialize. interact networks from these see how people to chance got the HC/CS meetingsin which by Budapest, were regularly organized some of members,whereI the activities. spheretheir social of larger the within of, they are part networks to the they attach scheduled formy visit. Ihad the chance to meet some of their friends andsee to what importance had they which andmeetings events different at asthem as accompany well myhosts of routine in in couldactivities daily theyperform common the observe thus andparticipate them.with I andwhat of guests their actions tothe react people how guests, their for accommodating logical complement to the interviews that I conducted with them. a period ranging from tofive two days method of and the participantobservation buta seemed One other instance where I combined the two methodological approaches hasbeenatthe approaches methodological two the instance whereIcombined One other be veryadequate forhowThis methodexploringpeople their tohomes proved structure live for them with chanceto the membersnetworks, Igot by of these Being hosted other 26 CEU eTD Collection 4 3 2 linkages throughout wholethe world, andmembers spreadinmost of parts the of world.the with scope, transnational their by distinguished are networks these of all Nevertheless, limited. GlobalFreeLoaders East and West. Therebetween contact better a and tolerance peace, international promoting also at aimed Luitweiler which exists other similarin the an mostnotable1949 by Bob past, beingorganization created OpenDoors, Servas networks to CS andonly ones of their kind,HC and that there have existed similarin attempts to create such thenetworks in the present, such as American born Hampshire then a 22 yearKühne,being byVeit movement, first the launched as both a grass-roots started launched). They old German yearthat in crash,in2006CouchSurfing and 2was CouchSurfing(CS) aserver 2004(following student and the second by Casey Fenton, a 28 year old, New http://www.travelhoo.com/dotnet/main.aspx http://www.bewelcome.org/ http://www.globalfreeloaders.com/ Before going on to analyze these two networks, I have to mention that they are not the not are they that mention to I have networks, two these analyze to on going Before Both networks were created shortly after the year 2000: Hospitality Club (HC) exactly 2 , BeWelcome 3 or TravelHoo How it all works 27 4 but their size and coverage is much more much is coverage and size their but CEU eTD Collection 5 through CS founder,through Casey Fenton’s testimony: Browsing and both create andtravelers. activebackpackers networks these were decided to their sites, the “founding tool implementingfor being it theInternet. As be can seen from found autobiographiesthe on fathers” of the itself, main hasbackpackers’ group from institutionalization within the the drive come towards two networks were both couchsurfers of examples. Inthecase perfect representnetworks itself, two group the and in their early 20s when they institutionalization. for variants possible only the not are these Nevertheless, success). intoindustry acommercial by tourist turned been mainstreamedand the has backpacker’s travel exampleFor British (2006) of GapYearconvincingly O’Reilly’sshows how the study cater foras and so them.to these has diversifieditsservices has towards groups reached that out 2007 Maoz 2007,Pearce&Foster 2002, (Bell as authors such by analyzed extensively been already has phenomenon this backpackers of case the In travel. of experiences their with along institutionalized, being of way under been identify asglobal themselves “tourists”)“travelers” (as to makeopposed has upa that alsogroup experience’. mass-tourismindustry, standardize hasbeen able to and institutionalize ‘rawtravel the tothesky grass-rootsmove Institutionalization: Iwill use this term from here on to refer to the members of both of the HC and CS I will now turn to the attempts towards institutionalization that have come from within the that people and the backpackers nomads, global alternative tourists, The globetrotters, (1992,1996) As Borocz convincingly the creationshowed, through of tourism the ). In most of the cases it has been the tourism industry 28 5 , the , CEU eTD Collection andflexible organizational wherestructure, one can easily gain dropmembership.or of people, self-identification numerous concept through acts the beingdefinedbyavery loose a around formed are neo-tribes the can Asone recall, neo-tribes. of contemporary characteristics term commitments moment, Baumanlong thisincapacity a (1991)for back peoplethe coming and, of to visited, and place the with bonds stable form to tourist the of incapacity ornotorious the to is due tourist, the of any commitmentorganization. ‘stable’ using Theabout reason why alongside word I am cautious thefigureof the at in logicshegemonicmode their againstof tourismall,the industry and its drive capitalist stance, the on behalfThis has been one of of pre-requisite the philosophiestheir totheir andthis attests counter- of touristsBoth of them outsidewere constituted of tourism the industry any and without support. corporate is onefor tourist the community. infrastructure ‘stable’ morecreating a movements at aiming grass-root of the main raised aboutself-identity fateful at moments” (2000:936)through tourism. young Western tourists, which, according toDesforges seek tofind answers “to questions that are make biographies of upthetravel elementsthat common the here some discoverOne of can journey... inward an represents also Project CouchSurfing the side, personal the On house… their at sleep maybe and them with out hang Icould if seeing and Internet the on someone contacting would fly that Friday. What would Ido whenI got there? Stick itout in a hotel? A hostel? I thought about the idea of to take a weekend trip to Iceland one May. I'd gotten a cheap web-special from Boston to Iceland on a Monday and adventures… these Foundland in the dead of winter. Stopped in Black Rock City ona whim. On and on. Ijust couldn't get enoughof Due to the ways in which they came into existence, both as canbe classified networks both existence, cameinto thewaysinwhich they Due to This was a time when the concept of the CouchSurfing Project started to form. It solidified when I decided I drove across the United States more than 20 times. Went to Europe for a weekend. Drove to New 29 CEU eTD Collection 6 the advertised advantages of entering the network, the most important of them are presented as are presented important of them most the network, entering the of advantages advertised the “intercultural promotes peopleunderstanding...bringing together...travelers andlocals” Amongst tourism. global of realm entities in asstructurally networks the equivalent Iwill the two minorthese treat differences Dueto continent. isrepresented Europe best Still, the networks inboth inEurope. represented better being HC American while in represented North better with CS being area, coverage membership of acquisition the websites, their of design the are them distinguish credo&themembers Networks’ isaccommodation a fewpowerful incentive which could down. turn on money they save that factcould the trips, budget for have apreference backpackers its members. Asthe of character aswellback-packing the,mostly, network of the as character neo-tribal the about both claim my substantiating to evidence further bring will members their who cannot travel themselves and who prefer to act mostly as hosts, out of differentreasons. isby Asecondpeople group madeup networks. advantagesofferedbythe react tothe likely to that would fall in the general category of backpackers as they seem formto the group that is most part of arepeoplebelievea significantthese I these ofpeople that networks, sorts to are drawn InHC every profile is reviewed by the administrators of the network, while in CS this filter is absent The HC network describes itself as a non-for-profit, volunteer run organization, which organization, run volunteer non-for-profit, a as itself describes network HC The The rules and goals of the two networks are very similar, and the main differences that of andcharacteristics thegeneral networks the of principles lookingthe at that I believe Although largedue totheir sprawl numbersand global itis establish difficult to what 30 6 and the and CEU eTD Collection always free; it is contrary to the values of CouchSurfing and against our against and CouchSurfing of values the to contrary is it free; always specifically so that everyone can travel the world and partake in cultural“CouchSurfing is exchange.a non-profit organizationdedicated toStaying the global community. CouchSurfing with was created your host(s) is also non-commercial), out of a total mostof seven important advantages joining of the network. isthat lessbeing emphasized,with no thanfour it no references(free,no to obligations & cost, built-in advantages itadvantages brings: are there Maffesoli’s characterization of a neo-tribe, as previously presented. Before going on to consider goingto Before on presented. aspreviously a neo-tribe, of characterization Maffesoli’s tourist; andfostering intercultural the exchange. All of features of fitthese remarkably into aglobal create of community to attemptthe and world the across people networking of the inthisproject; participate formal to obligations any lackof and fully voluntary with aspect the philosophy: the accommodation,of promotion inhandde-commodified/free whichgoes hand increasingand of thechance ( cultural understanding.” cross- strengthening and friendships creating continent, every on locals and travelers We network place. peaceful humanity. Our goal is couch. Ourto mission is to facilitate highmakequality experiences forpeople exploring the worlddiverse and giving back to cultures of the world more connected, making the world a smaller, more being of those receiving http://www.couchsurfing.com/help.html safety features safety From this succinct description one can see that decommodification is the main element main the is decommodification that see can one description succinct this From Like HC, CouchSurfing’s isdescription remarkably similar: Comparing the two statements, one can extract the main ideas that makemain uptheir ideas that the can statements, one extract two the Comparing (in italics is the exact wording to be found on the website) free free accommodation worldwide no intercultural understanding obligations ) 31 and the fact that the site is site the fact that and the , the opportunity opportunity , the to everythingat terms of use to charge someone to surf your surf to someone charge to non-commercial nocostatall meet people friendly . and has and . Other CEU eTD Collection this category this is category the nextmadebiggest(45.7%); group that upof 25-29agecohort,withthe a little most of the membersthe be to foundinage cohort:almost half 18-24 the of usersfalling in the 8 numbers. own oftheir database the having ones only 7 Club. Hospitality of members members findings very mostsitesCouchSurfing of the also of similar, regarding are the to apply two the Because analysis. in my tothem retort mostly Iwill and its members of characteristics will try to give a general description of the members of these networks. mass-tourism, I working the of them contrast to to and inmorefeatures detail three of each these From here on, all information about the statistics of the two networks will be takenfrom their sites, as they are the www.couchsurfing.com/statistics.html According to the CS the to According The statistics Figure 1.Age distribution in CouchSurfingthe organization 7 available on the CS site are the most comprehensive about the 8 statistics (see figure 1) the average age of the users is 26years, with 32 Age ? 50-89 40-49 35-39 30-34 25-29 18-24 CEU eTD Collection respectively, with firstthe countries two being the USand Canada. 9 situation exists in CS, where Germany, France and Italy 3 the andItaly France occupy inCS,whereGermany, exists situation 50,000 members. France, Italy and Spain occupy the 3 the numbertotal members in of HC in18% total but numbermembersonly totalin has CS,about of HCwhile of the 9% of Germany of the the theUSA statistics has 25.5% online According to HC,respectively. and German-based CS American-based inthe over-represented being Germany USA the both and with coverage, 3). The birth place of these (see figure & from America (especially Western Europe) members 2 andEurope North aredrawn networks has also affected, of their mostand Western phenomenon, larger part areof a networks these thefactthat to out in a certain measure the extent of their itthat is nota dating community. opportunity to meet women, in spiteit join somea good people who of consider the things bythefactthat explained, other amongst of the fact that CS warns be men could of The over-representation the categories. ‘unknown’ the and people’ ‘several people who want to register fallingmembers ‘female’is in category.between Therestof the 10.9% equally the divided of only36.8% membersthe while ‘male’category, women, falling inthis the with 52.3%of of men, against a shows over-representation in clear network this distribution The gender specified theirage). aboverest, 35make13% upabout of total the (excluding 5.1%of memberswhohavethe not whilethe incohort age 10.8% 30-34 the members(25.4%); number of of total the aquarter over http://secure.hospitalityclub.org/hc/hcworld.php Germany occupies the first Germany placemembers number according overoccupies the to inHC,with of The distribution of members according to world regions, in both networks, clearly points 9 but only 6.7% of the total in CS. 33 rd , 5 th and 9 th places, respectively.A similar rd , 4 th and 6 th places,

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Hospitality Club Hospitality in members of Number 3. Figure CEU eTD Collection one. an all makingalmostinclusive can thenetwork become amember, thus accesstoInternet has this to through environment, creation the of is profile.an Anybodyon-line years who of over18 age and common is it as place, takes world virtual the to world real the from self-hood Rules ofthenetwork disadvantaged. are that cultures speaking non-English from mostly generations is older the it this case, bridging element across cultures is also anexclusionary elementfor those who donotspeak it. In inmoremore language, globalized and as a acting world English,that while our especially hence limiting thefounders’ claim that “everyonecan travel”. Therefore, one has to keep in mind whospeak do not languagesisother itjoin more difficult into and participate networks, these of the dominant cultures of the world (i.e.beingin conducted English. Thus, the language barriers do exist andfor people whoarenotpart English, French, German, Spanish is and cultures countries from members different between etc.) place taking entire communication and for those almost the limit optimism as: which should our upand thatkeeppopping obstacles certain other excellent). to intermediate beginner, from (ranging members its of skills language self-reported the consideration into takes only as site the speakers non-native speakers and French of with only 31,1% members the speaking it. Thereisno madebetweennative difference In order to join either of the networks one has to register online. The translation of one’s of translation The online. register to has one networks the of either join to order In are there very attractive, tourism makeseem to that alternative benefits of In spite the Finally, of membersthe 83,7% speak English,most while thenext common language is 35 CEU eTD Collection already shared it, you're 100% welcome here! ( here! welcome 100% you're it, shared already have or lifetime, your in sometime couch your sharing anticipate you as long As join! to couch a need don't You ascan are very loose, from rules in bethis comment: respect seen this in betravel andmake of contact enacted. life can the potentialities networks real the socialization, one that is less likely createto bonds between the members. Only after the members of type disembodied a in results only this but members, other with links establish to members which makes Thein enables uptheinfrastructure network towork. virtual presence’ (2002) order interaction virtual both need they that signifies worldview/philosophy. The secondincludes, first of category languagesall, skills, the then the offered accommodation of type the of the description thepersonal description, incorporates one The first socialization. and identity narrative categories: two fall into etc.) occupation, sex, age, (such as (if factual ones purely beside the fill in hisprofile, hasgotto constructing one mainthat categories any),The uploading. picture and self-characterization length of the asto few restrictions and are there the personal exchange. tointercultural dedicated section, last in them andIwillthe examine as hosts, act to only membersprefer some some cases where here, as anybodypreferences can change from one state to the other without any difficulty. Still, there are as well as the description of one’s Upon joining the network, one can choose if he wants to host, be a guest or both. The both. or a guest be host, to wants he if choose can one network, the joining Upon which networks arehybrid networks these is that shouldstressed be that One element One has a great deal One hasagreat exampleleeway of in see (for one’s profile 4), constructing Figure isvery andguest not host relevant between distinction cases Unlike other tourism, the of www.couchsurfing.com 36 and physical presence, or whatUrry ‘co- called or physical presence, ) CEU eTD Collection upon the number of days of stay as well as on how to get in contact. agree and place, takes guest host wherethe that After this anegotiatingthey phase are available. back signaling person,answer they that accommodate are to free that want and hosts are there members registered in the place to be visitedone wantsand then to tosend travel emails requesting to. Theto be hosted.way itIf works is verywill come back to this last element in thesimple: section dedicated to trust generation and social I capital. network. in this has one first that friends the finally and around, have to one prefers one people of type has to look if there are any After isin becoming lookingfor amember,one tostart free hosts desiredplacedthat the Figure 4. CS profile of the author 37 CEU eTD Collection something from their own culinary culture. While doing my fieldwork I have also chosen to chosen also have I fieldwork my doing While culture. culinary own their from something opt for and universallanguage the other:people of cook taste, preferredway orthe to usually host, and this is also stipulated on the profile of the members. in the presentmoment of his hosting. The most common option is that of cooking a dinner for the can be that enacted ones of ways reciprocating, find has alternative to guest the accommodation, by reciprocate is agiver.only noAs thereoffering obligation to butalso a receiver isin giving,one while wantstoshare. guest other the onwhatthe a way dependent situation betweenwhere the andhost, the hostguest is in a position himbeingadvantage, of the with peopleother andsleep in their house.Butthis usually leads creation tothe an of unbalanced room as well as the keys to their apartments. own my me offered with stayed I that hosts the all fieldwork, my During conditions. material accommodationhost can freeoffera or food perks,all other depending onhis willingness and his travelpossibilities of membersthe is andit usually indicated in one’s profile, sothatthe people who know onthe material depends All this backyard. in one’s oreven camping floor the on a mattress, what to very rangingdifferenthaving bedroom one’s from (very ahouse)tosleepingown even rarely on expect are available of accommodation The types members. the with be found can that accommodation from the hosts reciprocity &generalized Decommodified accommodation they have selected. Additionally to free Thus, for example, out of the 7 people Ihave hosted all but one has reciprocated in one In order to balance this situation, the guest should reciprocate in some way, so as not tobe stay to inorder money have to not does one factthat the to refers Free accommodation As mentionedhave is I previously, joining thesenetwork freeis of charge, and so the 38 CEU eTD Collection of a second encounter between the guest and host are limited, secondly, the guest could get away limited, guestcouldget are host the guestand the secondly, between of a secondencounter reciprocate at all, as there are very few measures or institutions for enforcing that and the chances an exchange traditional type of hospitalityas by being less strict about the rules of reciprocation,well the time span of the from differs it and hospitality’ ‘new-age as the called have I is what This it. do to to exactly the objectsevery member beingto decide for him whether he exchanged.wants to reciprocate in the first place, and then how First of all Denmark I boughtone them some wine from Paris. (J, 21, USA) is not I got herobliged [the host] a bottle of red wine. It’s nicer to bring something fromto the place you have been: when I went to similarly answered: Onemy a21year of guests, from old boy Wyoming, for traveling USA, 6months around Europe 30, Italy) helped us with our English, with our grammar. And Simon brought us some wine and we got stoned every night. (C, Forexamplefrom Neil Oxford helped me with my fixedlamp, and some other things around the house.And he members. the andskillsof thecharacter all on depending ways toreciprocate, other are But there dinner. (C, 30, Italy) I don’t know because in a certain sense you pay. You cooked for us, you spent a lot of money. Usually CS offers us spent 5days as a guest, told me when I asked her about the free character of the CS: reciprocate in a similar manner. One of hosts from Rome, a 30 year old woman, with whom I As there are no written rules and obligations to reciprocate in these networks, itis up to 39 CEU eTD Collection precisely,inbut mindthe having statistics as general of networks the my well as own join by peoplea network. to areattract similar similarpeople whereby bias, similarity of people who join and itself it,network is the otherarguingof of network outcome structure the the of thatthe the the I opt for the later and believecommon attribute that of the members it of isthe networks: an oneinstance arguing that this similarity of is an common selectionoutcome this by backgroundhave. we seemed that toof possible twothe Out for hypothesis explaining this facilitated was them of most with Communication hospitality. of principles share samebasic the seemed to host and both as aguest I havemet that people abide by.The in member an network. forthe beingconsidered active credentials necessary the acquired andthus hosted, he has that hisprofile on cansee people other that fact is the matters What from people. but other from initial of accommodation, the the receiver necessarily him not back offersone to will come what whereby reciprocity, of existence a generalized membersother arehigh. from down turned or avoided be will person that that chances the but small, is administrators in Inby of being of the future. this the risk from getting hosted excluded network the case the in neutral rider diminishingchances the andof one’s or anegative thus profile, getting reference can ways exchange butother back’. choose of ‘paying by isbound toreciprocate considered he afree in not thirdly rider,and offering accommodation with a vaguepromise of hosting theplaced presenthost, in without anindefinitebeing future But how similar are the people in the network? This is, again, difficult to establish to are they powerful more the are, rules the explicit less the that is feature striking One What keeps the networks coagulated, as in the case of similar Internet-based entities is the free a considered being of hold the risk in reciprocating anyway does not Nevertheless, 40 CEU eTD Collection travel. Being in a hotel is not like staying in a real house. (C, 30, Rome) Forme money is not important. For me being inCS is not because you don’t pay but because it’s a different way of related: pharmaceutical company, that advantages comecultural and social the from especially but gains material with the from both benefit to the in stay freefor order insteadto decommodified choose but hotel traveling, for meanswhile pay or the ahostel to have otherwise that those affluent, more the but them, use that resources financial limited very tourism. a good knowledge ofit. My have or in English Most speaking them are fluent of center. tothe areawell connected residential host from orina in house locatedcenter, city the theof proximity inhabitants of besides the the regular Rome, who wasmember of the Philippines diplomatic corpus, and being carried around Moscow in a limo. workingrecalled about a friendfor my hosts of example, one For in network. the few outliers a only of with rich, very the not are they hers couchsurfinga experienceand they can afford to go out for dinner with their friendsin several timesMoscow, a week. Nevertheless, where living, They of have adecentstandard shefarbeingfrom and destitute. financially strapped, are not stayed with the formalhavingWhile affluent studying. agood not people, or they education, working are they do under mostly ingraduatesor they wayofgraduating thusare college their early 20sand 30s, be established: can somebelievecharacteristics common I that from fieldwork the observations One paradox of these networks is One networks foris thatalthough itof paradox free, peoplethey are these notthe with people, extra for accommodating big enough an apartment rent or own them Most of 41 CEU eTD Collection network have the material conditions of have in forhotels of network accommodation andhostels, budget thematerial paying conditions decisionto travel. (V, 27, Rome) impact on your desireCS members to aretravel. very young. So Ifa travel you around know the worldthat is verysometimes expensive. International said:Relations And youthis couldcan have sleep a very negativewith European Asmy from countries). host yearother Rome, a finishing oldin 27 girl her studies friends that would Eastern of the most (i.e. lower GDP/capita a have that countries from especially backpackers, secure your future inincrease number the of an backpackingas as well already people whoare the versions of budget guides includeactually reference toCouchSurfing, and recommendit. can easily half save of money by those (Lonelyusing thesenetworks The laterPlanet 2005). Eastern Europe, of which paying being for €10-30 directed foraccommodation in ahostel, one recommendfor Europe setting €50-70aday aside inWestern and Europe €30-€50 aday in significantly examplereduced. For if consideration into one takes thethat budget tourist guides think these are the nicer kindof people, only not because I belong to this group. (Z, 57, Budapest) I home. their you offer who of people kind certain a is this think I money. the for only not course of So freedom. oriented.internationally and open were members the all because of people Almostgroup selected ofa was membership the that think I all of them. You could find : said similarly Or as Servas member one some people who were interested in exotic things or justice and Taking into consideration the above description, one can establish that the members of the of members the that establish can one description, above the consideration into Taking Of possiblethe effects of change:this more opportunities for travel longerand for stays are costs overall the pay for accommodation, has to thatone costs the By eliminating 42 CEU eTD Collection 10 fact that, for example, the most popular places visited by visited most popular forexample,the couchsurfers fact that, places tourism and tourists still follow some similar consumption patterns as the regular tourists. The alternative channels act only as a complement to the mainstreamthese channels,Nevertheless, and alternative visit. they localities the of experiences their enrich could which information contrivedthe environments thatthey inhabitfind temporary and try to alternative channels of are more tourists becomingreflexiveconsumption: and modernization and critical more awareof Beck (1992) wasdiscussing in tosocietyreference modernity,and in general:the shifttowards institution. ofacapitalist that to similar dangerously making process whole cuttingof the thus costs traveling and the accommodation on anymore, But experiences. travel the of commercialization and normalization standardization, its and industry bringing in back the social decommodification wherebymeans in level, ideological promote of onan tourism they a as and personal element that counter-hegemonic stance, explain an that mainanti-capitalist, combine they this: reasons was lost with the erection There not aretwo infrastructure. tousethistouristic morebutthey evenchoose expensive ones, of the tourism the peoplethe onemeets in meantime. the and the Colosseum are still being visitedby the alternative tourists, but there is an equal stress on coincide with some of the most popular touristic attractions is evidence to this. The Tour Eiffel according to the statistics on the CouchSurfing site , in the same time they also pursue an economic interest, whereby one does not spendmoney whereby interest, doesnot , inalso economic one an pursue samethe time they The changing attitudes towards touristic consumption reflect the more general moreshiftthat general the reflect consumption touristic towards attitudes The changing 43 10 and members HC CEU eTD Collection compared oneto that has both type of acquaintances or only friends that were met in person. As I auserwhomarkedhas accordingly.Thus, gotonly position,friends isin online a disadvantaged includes peoplethe hasmet one both whiletraveling,online inreallife,each and being of them parts. missing the for recuperating are meant that networks the mechanisms within certain are there institutionsinvolved, fall backare andtheclassical Nevertheless can quasi-absent. upon one that such errors. tocorrect in order are established asetinstitution that are of there worth its money. If it meansthrough the of standards prices. One and when knows that it isbought, a service has be turns to out to be otherwise, and the client iscommodified networks. dissatisfied with de- within trust and acquiring, the two circulatingdifferentof stabilizing possibilities of the service, answering disembodimentlook atthe turn and question and this quasi-anonymity? Iwill to by medium characterized ina security generate and confidence to isithow possible assured. But from logic,social any or economic cost-benefitsafety can be (2001:10-11,andwhere analysis” external from derived not are loyalties “human where circle’, asa‘warm to referred Rosenberg accommodation. One alsohas to find acozy environment, what Bauman, building on Goran cantouristparticipate? Community building: The most important of these is the rubric “friends” from the profile, which most oftenmoney nois universal standards, there no are there tourism, In thecaseof decommodified secured are trust and security tourism, commodified of case in the with, begin To Securing more free travel one’sdecision justfindingtakes than to cheapor 44 CEU eTD Collection curiosity and soon lose interest in it. join thinkingitis a good opportunity for dating, and arenotactive members, others join out of somewith dofact that people the have for to some this: explanations Thereareseveral profile. a light form of trust, only 60% of the members of the CS network have pictures posted on their that. (M, 31, Madrid) your profile, put a picture and tell me something about you, who you are. And the guy end up doing it and I met him. Once I said to the person[who requested me to host him that] he takes the time to fill his profile. If you complete asked to host. My hosts from Madrid shared with me on of her experiences: or hosted getting of chances one’s increases self-description relatively a and pictures with profile by Thus, thepersonality completing one’s person. worthy’the of enoughhints asto with profile, a‘trust- create onecan inwhich ways other still are there references, of these In theabsence person, or that host to either accept to their decision positive and extremely positive. The other part has to be filled in by the users. commentthe is beingstandardized, anevaluation overall negative, from ranging toneutral, about meeting, the from usually comingparticipated thatboth parties in rendezvous.the Apart of is contacts. facilitate these a medium to just designed whereby Internet the encounters, have previously, hospitality mentioned these aim sites at networkingreal people through life In spite of the fact that seeing the face of the person in an important element in elementgenerating important in an person face of the seeing the that fact In spitethe of like things and references their seealso to I like better]. [it’s couchsurfers other of pictures have they if And in important be very to this category have considered have interviewed I people All of the Additionally, next to each friend in one’s profile there is a short comment or reference 45 mutatis mutandis , be hosted by that person. that by hosted be , CEU eTD Collection took the time to read the host’s description and to write an interesting email. Thus, in contrast to in contrast Thus, email. interesting an write to and description host’s the read to time the took asit showshost, theguest of and the in trust acouch the securing both effectiveis one themost mentioning the days and period when one wants to visit the place of the host. This second method also and host, the of description in the elements some to according tailored host, the to how many guestwoulddaysstay. the like to option is Theother send to anindividualized email of and details trip aboutthe the host the informs and character has astandardized which email the email. another crucial which can element tothe contribute production confidence inthevirtual of world: is still There arepresent? of neither them if what happens but Internet, the of environment 27) (E, friends. have don’t they profiles their at look you if of CS, members good not This is not the feeling of CS. I received a lot of time “You are beautiful, I want to meet you”. I think that they are me herself my she of apicture email. sent on personal acknowledged, my guests did not have Oneof difference. totell the beable members will active them, the ignore while will spammers a picturethe that believe they in Thus, words. in herthemselves describe to profileonly and a picture, post to not prefer and after she askedspam anddemanding dates sexual by encounters the people whobelieve this is a datingme site, they to host her and after membersisinterviews with thatin women toavoidbeingorder stalked with andbombarded I There are two ways of requesting to be hosted: either send a “request eithersurf your send There behosted: ways couch” to requesting a of to are two disembodied the over trust in generating important are elements previous The One woman member from Rome, who showed me around the city, told me: my in times many surfaced has which this, for explanation important most the But 46 CEU eTD Collection complex and culturally variable vocabulary of touch” (2002:259). arich, is there and other, each touch can people co-present Likewise control... and power fear, and insincerity as stressed: Urry As John in encounter. face-to-face havemeet a met online that thepeople whereby of “co-presence”, that real world, otherwise the chances thatit dissipates and fades away are high. The test for this is beput has Internet the and gatheredthrough to inof to the people.test reinforced trust The the asit network, the provides the possibility linkingof andforming profiles and of clusters groups were doing this. It was very fascinating. (C, 28, Berlin) they write…for example in your case it was your study and it was a good way to help you and also to know why you I think that also reading the email. Because I usually first read the email and then I watch the profile.Social IfWork, I toldlike me: what in degree his finishing guy old year a 28 Berlin, from host my German case, in mypersonal Or Rome) enjoyed the email. But now they have photos, because we told them that theyButexample for forSebastianVincent and they have referencedidn’t have orphotos, they didn’t haveBut anything. we to complete their profile. (C, 30, andguests. hosts between relations of style the standardization mass-tourism,of this sort of alternative tourism aims at amuch more personal co-presence affords access to the eyes. Eye contact enables the establishment of intimacy and trust, as well Meeting people inreal life onlinefriendships andcreating arecrucial for existence the of 47 CEU eTD Collection people that theirhave houses andtheir lives. (M,31,Madrid) it’s hostel, a not It’s CS was. what know didn’t girls these Ithink so reference positive very had also he and guy, that know I But girls. American the from reference bad getting up end he end the at but misunderstanding or experience early 20s. And they thoughttheir in were who that girls, American of a couple maybe with experience a bad had he and CSFirenze from guy wasItalian an met I like being in a hostel, and you have to be there to serve them. Bad negative reference is inevitable. My host from Madrid told me of one such story: (V, 27) CS try to adapt to every situation, to the culture of your host and your host tries to adapt to the culture of your guest. in anutshell: idea this expresses in Rome my hosts of one from coming tolerant and lessgeta in notto Thus, mightmorebecomeboth negative order host and reference, they guest. critical of describesthe other, the types or,of encounters in other one had,words, is stillon the Internet, everybodya moreis freepowerful to go his own way. flexible. tool in regulatingformalnoeven not having obligations, of that tohost one person inreallife after agreeingtodo One the are As there self-descriptionbehavior site. the of rules the in explicitly stipulated is it and of disengagement of that element, important very a is This connection. the break can they otherwise interaction, the continue one’s previous expectations. If both actors feel comfortable with the encounter, then they will There are still situations where communication between the members is flawed, and a and flawed, is members the between communication where situations still are There in keep mind“references”, whereone one the that has again Nevertheless, category of to Therefore, meeting the guest or host in person can confirm, or on the contrary, infirm 48 CEU eTD Collection philosophy andpolitical agenda sites:of twothe thatof fostering intercultural exchange. as a tourist community, now move Iwill ontothe third andlast component which makes upthe resources knowledge the local tapping Intercultural exchange: accordingly. members ones,and from ‘bad’ choose tell ‘good’ to andabilities use hisreason to member every itis upto whereby privatized, decentralized and arethus of methods policingthe Most removedby not administrators. the profile was evendidn’t have time to pack our stuff.your For ownsafety especially forwomen travelers don’t stay with him. he started having a random fit...talking to himself, hitting himself...screaming. Needless to wesay out ofran there, smokeanymore, to want wedidn’t when morning the next then But space. no us gave and everything about anal little Whateveryou do, do not stay with him. He's a serious problem. He seemed alright at first, when we first got there...a Negative Extremely (all references about the identity of the person have been removed by the author) Amsterdam of a member wasfrom site that CouchSurfing the on reference negative extremely of an being measure example of used.One have few this heard casesof I which were etc), there abuse, (theft, break rules of infragrant of cases the Except profile. the by site,from deleting the in exclusion member the available of networks: these methods use one fewpolicing the of Having discussed some of the elements that contribute to the coagulation of the network his 81 (mostly others, about of positive) negative references out Even ifthisuserhad4 of canintervene, site and the administrators the references, negative caseof In the several 49 CEU eTD Collection longerperiod of time and thus has a certain knowledge of localitythat and notjust people born inthat location 11 that impeded greater communication. By being hosted inimpeded being communication.hosted of that By house greater the a local potential for bridging the gap between tourists and locals,by circumventing some of obstaclesthe communities. focusthe has only shifted leisure,upon without much forconsideration its upon impacts local many ofmass-tourismtourism, and that havebeen earlier Ibelieve the abandoned, of promises mass- and tourism alternative between distinction Manichean any avoid to has one Although mediated. highly were and others the tourists between the contact wherethe bubbles tourist creation the ledof contrary to but the and subsequent the evolutions turned to rich poor, and the between the especially of world, the people the between communication abetter and Others the new friends, it’s your choice. In a guided tour you have to go there, you have to see this. (Imitating a tour operator): Because with aguided tour you are alone. With CS you are not alone. You meet friends so you can go out with your of concerns activeinthe members networks: the main the of one is guides travel certified and guides travel on relying only not and dwellers, for gatheringThe knowledge,preoccupation especially extra by from mouth of word local the Italy. (C, 30, Rome) You can see Rome, the buildings but it’s good to know the people. I want them [the guests] to know how we live in me: told myinformants of Asone host. his with communication in direct engage to my understating of the term ‘local’ is very flexible and included any person that has resided in a certain place for a for place certain in a resided has that person any included and flexible very is ‘local’ term ofthe understating my Alternative tourism and especially the decommodified alternative tourism hold a greater hold tourism alternative decommodified the especially and tourism Alternative Initially mass-tourism seen as an was activity wouldlead understandingthat toabetter of - ‘Look atthis! Ok, now we have to go. No, no, we don’t have time to see this.‘ 50 11 , the tourist is, thetourist able CEU eTD Collection reproducing some of the stereotypes, especially the positive ones, during an encounter, thus an encounter, positive ones, during the especially stereotypes, reproducing somethe of extentto which peopleother could benefitfrom interculturalthe exchange. willneighborhoods” be even ignored by alternativethe tourists remain high, still limiting thus the “poor the or of city the parts “bad” the that chances The embellished. and masked are carefully likely remain inside one of the “decent” parts of the city, Thus,neighborhood. being breakfree while from ableto bubble, touristicthe one willstill most where the contradictionsresidential safe in a or of center the city the system around city the of neighborhoods trendy the of one in are people in a relatively well economic position, mostlikely beto living in the center of the city, great view of the Izmir Gulf. (Tindaya 32, Bath, UK ) *Relaxed moments: Eating fresh fish accompanied by deeply detailed local history, enjoyed from aterrace with a *Priceless info: (safe roads & weather during storms in Iceland) together sailing even and traveling, eating, cooking, talking, people: *Meeting enjoyed: we have then Since them. with experiences share &to and world CS. is giving a large number of people the opportunity to travel, to meet and get to know travelers from all over the can also be seen from the testimony of a CS member from the site: active stance to go out of the tourist bubbles and also explore less touristically an visit, taking they localities the marketed morelearn about places and andpeople to attached stereotypes sites. As are very alone. (V, 27, Rome) No, I don’t like this. Maybe you are with a lot of other people, more than in CS. But the crowd, I mean the people, To continue, as my hosting experiences have showed me, there is a certain tendency of tendency a certain is there me, showed have experiences hosting my as continue, To Nevertheless, one has to keep in mind the fact that most of the members of these networks and clichés classical the beyond go is to members the of ‘duties’ explicit the of One 51 CEU eTD Collection 20s, the oldest being 27years old. Of the 6hosts I stayed with, only one was the same age asme, in Ihadwere theirAll early 7guests the of be observed. could difference acertain experience, as my well from personal own as themembersnetworks of about light discussion of the the lookingfrom issue, to thisfrom every memberother easily.the But at can change again one state as situations, between distinction two cut the is noclear there mentioned, Asguests. Ipreviously good experiences. And also we made some very good friends. (E, 35, Budapest) And the people who we had as hosts or guests were all very interested in Hungary, in us. We always had very, very wasencountered: samethe Servas network, the attitude “ethnicity” rubric in profile. the atcare tolook the not she didI was as evenRomanian, noticed that me, shenot hadtold hosts my of one As inhabitants. the as well as born was I where country the me, about more out my find werevery capitals myhosts all European to Western Ivisited. To interested surprise, of the negative stereotypes, I was expecting haveto more difficulties in finding a host, in the several ‘bottom the heap’the of (Judt2001), andEurope of one currently with associated of a multitude hosts. andthe guests the both of behalf on dismissal, their for strove that one been has encountered have I that attitude cooked French I hosted girls the example: two For exchange. intercultural of a real extent limiting the prepared One last element that I would like to discuss is that of the relations between host and host between relations the of that is discuss to like would I that element last One part of but country, European from an Eastern member coming in of another Or case the In my personal case, as a citizen of Romania, one of the countries that have been placed at crepes mizo soup and for me, for the German couplemade sour salad while soup, Japanese the guest wakame sea-weed. But when it come to the negative stereotypes, the stereotypes, negative tothe when itcome But sea-weed. 52 CEU eTD Collection or restrictionsor of sorts, by other hosting people they feel can both useful byhelping people who impossibilityfinancial because of traveling, people other inthe For restrictions either of are who Madrid) fromlearn them. Ithink that asmuch asyoufrom learn different culturesyou grow asaperson.more (M, 31, can you so cultures different from people meeting and people meeting in] [believe I And very much. traveling like I getting in return. Or the way she put it: shewas exchange) for anintercultural satisfaction (personal benefits bytheprocess balanced were others she to offering was that benefits accommodation) (free terms output (2005) the applyingWilliams’non-monetizedperspective But givingmoreexchange she was that receiving. use formostly traveling, network the but bylookinghosting.from for Thus a strictly economic really not Shedid network. join the to decided she cultures, from other meetpeople to interested finishing heruniversity studies, anddidnot have the time forgoingbecause but abroad, she was and working was both from Madrid My host in face-to-face. meet people they travel, that travel themselves. Thisof movingsort was traveling for without them,from butdifferentvirtual them meet peopleto the they ifwould havemet hadthey but traveled, without actually having to they could nottravel for year this verymuch, andjoining believed would that thisnetwork allow me that told and work their with busy were them of Many them. met I that period the for host to prefer to seemed they youth, their in extensively traveled had they although hosts, my to As theworld.around traveling for 6 months when I met her, and in homean of had outsidecountry year.Oneof theirprevious 3 trips the average been them had 6 months to go, as part of a one year whileexcursion the others were in between 27 and 40 years old. My guests were very active travelers, with 53 CEU eTD Collection meant to facilitate the social integration of to facilitate meantof socialintegration “up-rooted”. the the is that anewinfrastructure or constellation, global alarger enter DAT networks two Thus the in Madrid. foreigners the living gather that organization organizations or similar ex-patother host couchsurfersintheirmeetings Madrid, hadregular exchange program.Or academic the with example, 3 of my 7 guests were Erasmus students whojoined the networks only after they started fitseems to a largerof social the re-configuration lifebeseems For happening that to in Europe. well as the people who have just moved to a new to a locality with others in similar situations living. It’s a good experience because forme it’s like being on a holiday, every time I have a CS. (C, 30, Rome) To make new friends and also to know their waywhen weof found out aboutlive CS we said ‘Whybecause not?’, because we loved being withit’s foreign people soa why goodnot host them way to know the placepeople where theyand arewhen we’ve met The firstroman motivation was that I and V. came here in Romeguys one year ago. And wewere alone, we didn’t knowand a lotof girls we didn’t like them because they were and also different from us. And from there North the of couchsurfersItaly, receiving was a good opportunity makingfriendsof For one other of my hosts, the 30 year old woman who was living in Rome, but had just moved Nantes) (M, 23, people. meet to wanted she and travel couldn’t she because English learning was she think Her [the host from Krakow] husband was ill so he had to go to hospital every 3 days and they couldn’t go abroad. I mobility: herrestricted for certain degree a to shejoin had can sothat compensate, host wherethe Poland, inKrakow, her experiences travel as well as meet and socialize with new people. One of my French guests told me of one of The use of these networks as a means of socializing the tourist with the local people as 54 CEU eTD Collection that there is a double movement that drives the spread of decommodification in oneof tourism: drives of decommodification that spread the is movement a there that double has been hypothesis sphereof My tourism. larger within andthe space their organize own operate sprawled whole the throughout world. membersof alternative tourism, decommodified number the hasgonefrom 500.000,0 to promote the that networks Internet of appearance the since for example, decades. Thus, last in faced the have societies these that changes socio-economical by profound the America and in and mainlydecade.has North been Internet bythedashingspread This driven Europe of lasthalf- in aboom the witnessed has tourism decommodified alternative tourism, alternative so-called make upthe that themany trends of andone later, of the Aspart post-tourist. the figurethe of touristthe tothecritical form touristicof consumption, symbolized by figurethe of in hastourism been shifting the from classicalthe form of touristic consumption epitomized by of metaphor life” (Bauman&Franklin contemporary 2003: 207). amplification and extension industry hasledof this realm tothe becomingof tourism’s “a of industry mass-tourism the inand its development Western World. the Thegradual it togiving study contributed subsequently followed the thecourse then the that shape undertook, tourism industry emerged in 19 the contemporary alternativetourism: decommodified analyzedtourism. howthe Havingfirst The main interest of this study has been to look at how these decommodification networks place havetaking been that main transformations of one the period, contemporary In the of evolution the in trend niche one exploring with concerned been has study This Conclusions th century and the previous traditions in Europe that and inEurope traditions previous century the 55 CEU eTD Collection changes in the technologies of travel (the low-cost airlines having the largest contribution), the contribution), largest the having airlines low-cost (the travel of technologies in the changes in Western World duetothe especially havetothrive the been in able of tourism, accommodation decommodification of principle the about organized HospitalityClub.org, and CouchSufring.com neverthe endinglamentations of post-modern thinkers. socio-anthropologistthe betterconceptual with looking fortools atand just reality analyzing than Hishave(1996: 72).of in he and dose writings awell-balanced optimism, thisrespect, provides exist within” that of solidarity networks seeingthe longer of no capable thatweare induces it solitude the and world modern the with disenchantment and dehumanization the on often so dwelled have “we one: modern the in place taking differentiations endless the and societies breakingtraditional upof onthe focused haveonly mostresearchers social fact that accused the has world.in Maffesoli place post-modern the and movement taking change are partof a larger hasnetworks been of that neo-tribes.Maffesoli’s According interpretation,this to these networks interventions. non-monetary through market touristic the of flaws the of some correct to tries and capital financial on saving for plasticmanner,involved post-tourist the in networks histhese trades social incapital exchange increasing the availableaccommodation, thus to and related those byeliminating costs of traveling, overall reducing the financial resourcesaims at character, havingaquasi-capitalistic one, other network; the the memberbecoming of a to be spent on other elementshospitality be and exchange thecultural of by and gained traveling, emphasizes to items. Or, to put social lost of some the recuperating it aims at anddiscourse stance them,an anti-capitalist with in a more The two neo-tribes that I have investigated, I havearguedmostinterestinglenses of that one the for looking decommodified atthese those formed around the sites 56 CEU eTD Collection configuration of sociality and solidarity in the context of globalization. re- the with concerned research of body the to contribution humble its brought has study this growing, going and communities keeping for these andthecommunities strategies of to tourists, previously heralded. similar to a certain extent, and the dividing line between tourist and post-tourist is notas strong as in the tourismplaces visited most the with coincide networks these of members by the places visitedmost that industry means fact the Nevertheless, more attractive. increasingly is becoming that analternative and industry, that the touristicshort time span, portends the fact that they will represent afactor to be reckoned with by the consumption sphere of tourism and the industry,tourist but fulminating the increase of theirmembers in such a patterns of the ofthe encounter. length short two the dueto stereotypes of certain reinforcement the groups are of circulates trustthe that within and networks these the multiplication freeof or riders/surfers, abuses possible area, covered their of mere extension a only bubbles, the touristic of breaking the of instead as such promises these to limitations also are there Nevertheless, members. between equalitarian host-guestrelationship, and abetter circulation informationof and knowledge and balanced more a visit, they localities the extensively more explore to tourists the allowing industry. Theof are those which theyhold mainpromises breaking of bubbleand tourist out the communities have agreatpotential for overcoming some of obstaclesthe and of problems this in nature the of contemporary lifesocial (Urry 2002). and place the loosening shifts ties2003) to the (Bauman rapid of Internet, spreadof people’s the To conclude, Ihopethatbyhavinglooked at attempts the of give networks these to birth had larger the have upon impact networks these say forearly surewhat is It to too still by I have suggested that, thetourism outside industry, nascentoperating tourist these 57 CEU eTD Collection Books, articles andjournals: Internet address of themain networks promotethat decommodificationtourism: in x x x x x x x x x x x x http://www.travelhoo.com/dotnet/main.aspx http://www.bewelcome.org http://www.globalfreeloaders.com www.hospitalityclub.org Tourist Studies Bell,“The ClaudiaZealand 2002. big‘OE’:Young New travellers assecularpilgrims.” ------. 2001. ------. 2000. 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