Homestay (also home stay and home-stay) is a form of

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

and

lodging Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...

whereby visitors share a residence with a local of the area (host) to which they are traveling. The length of stay can vary from one night to over a year and can be provided for free (

gift economy A gift economy or gift culture is a system of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. Social norms and customs govern giving a gift in a gift culture; although there ...

), in exchange for monetary compensation, in exchange for a stay at the guest's property either simultaneously or at another time ( home exchange), or in exchange for

housekeeping Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running and maintaining an organized physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as cleaning, tidying/organizing, cooking, shopp ...

or work on the host's property ( barter economy). Homestays are examples of

collaborative consumption Collaborative consumption is the set of those resource circulation systems in which consumers both "obtain" and "provide", temporarily or permanently, valuable resources or service (economics), services through direct interaction with other con ...

and the

sharing economy The sharing economy is a socio-economic system whereby consumers share in the creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods, and services. These systems take a variety of forms, often leveraging information technology and the ...

. Homestays are used by travelers; students who

study abroad International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 million international ...

or participate in

student exchange program A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or higher education study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, b ...

s; and

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

s, who provide child care assistance and light

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

duties. They can be arranged via certain

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

online marketplace An online marketplace (or online e-commerce marketplace) is a type of e-commerce website where product or service information is provided by multiple third parties. Online marketplaces are the primary type of multichannel ecommerce and can be a wa ...

s, or

academic institution An academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where childre ...

s. Social networking services where hosts offer homestays for free are called

hospitality exchange service Hospitality exchange services (hospitality exchange platforms, hospitality exchange networks or HospEx) are social networking services used for accommodation of travellers, where hosts do not receive payments. The relationships on homestay, hospi ...

Advantages and disadvantages

Homestays offer several advantages, such as exposure to

everyday life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or Normality (behavior), normal. Human diurna ...

in another location, the opportunity to experience local culture and traditions, opportunities for

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose of cultural diplomac ...

friendship Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Althoug ...

intercultural competence Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, behavioral, and linguistic skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures. Intercultural or cross-cultura ...

, and

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

practice, local advice, and a lower

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

compared to other types of lodging; however, they may have rules and restrictions, such as curfews, facility usage, and work requirements, and may not have the same level of comfort, amenities, and privacy as other types of lodging. Through homestays, visitors may immerse themselves in the culture and get a personal understanding of the customs and traditions of the area. They are affordable, frequently include home-cooked meals, and help out the community. For those looking for real relationships, homestays are intriguing because of the customized experience and cozy, homey surroundings. However, homestays might not have the privacy or standard hotel services like Wi-Fi and room service. Depending on the host, the experience's quality may vary, and some passengers may find difficulties due to linguistic or cultural issues and some may feel uncomfortable staying in someone’s home, sharing communal spaces, or being subject to house rules.

Notable social networking services and online marketplaces for homestay arrangement

Hospitality exchange service Hospitality exchange services (hospitality exchange platforms, hospitality exchange networks or HospEx) are social networking services used for accommodation of travellers, where hosts do not receive payments. The relationships on homestay, hospi ...

s (Hospitality for free): BeWelcome,

CouchSurfing CouchSurfing is a hospitality exchange service by which users can request free short-term homestays or interact with other people who are interested in travel. It is accessible via a website and mobile app. It uses a subscription business model ...

, Dachgeber,

Hospitality Club Hospitality Club (HC) was a hospitality exchange service (a gift economy network for finding homestays whereby hosts were not allowed to charge for lodging) accessible via a website. HC's specified goals were to facilitate "intercultural unde ...

(defunct), Pasporta Servo, Servas International, Trustroots, Warm Showers * Hospitality for work (

farm stay A farm stay (or farmstay) is any type of accommodation on a working farm. Some farm stays may be interactive. Some are family-focused and offer children opportunities to feed animals, collect eggs and learn how a farm functions. Others do not allow ...

s): HelpX,

Workaway Workaway is a platform that allows members to arrange homestays and cultural exchange. Volunteers or "workawayers", are expected to contribute a pre-agreed amount of time per day in exchange for lodging and food, which is provided by their host ...

WWOOF World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF, ), or World Wide Organization of Organic Farms, is a network of national organizations that facilitate homestays on organic farms. There is no central list or organization that encompasses all W ...

* Hospitality for money: 9flats,

Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( , an abbreviation of its original name, "Air Bed and Breakfast") is an American company operating an online marketplace for short-and-long-term homestays, experiences and services in various countries and regions. It acts as a ...

, Booking.com, GuestReady, Hipcamp, misterb&b, Vrbo * Home exchange and others: Friendship Force International, HomeExchange.com, Intervac International, ThirdHome

References

External links

* {{Authority control Tourist accommodations Backpacking Hotel terminology