What is a homestay?
Homestay is a form of accommodation that has grown rapidly within the tourism industry. At first glance the idea of a ‘home’ seems contradictory in a tourism context – after all, travel is usually about getting away from home.
Yet homestay tourism has expanded considerably in recent years. With the rise of budget travel, the sharing economy and growing interest in cultural tourism, homestays can now be found all over the world. This article explains what a homestay is, how homestays work, where they can be booked and the main advantages and disadvantages of this type of accommodation.
What is a homestay?
A quick online search for ‘what is a homestay?’ tends to return short and basic answers. However, anyone who looks closely at the homestay industry will see that the concept is more complex than it first appears.
Below is a basic explanation of a homestay, followed by a more critical discussion of the concept from a tourism management perspective.
What is a homestay? The simple answer
Put simply, a homestay is when you stay in another person’s home. Could this be your best mate’s home? Technically, yes. Could it be staying in the home of a rural villager in Laos? Yep, it could be that too.
According to Homestay.com, a homestay is when a guest is offered a spare room in a house that someone lives in, and stays there with the family. While this is a useful starting point, it does not reflect the reality of much of the modern homestay market.
Homestays have appeared all over the globe in recent years, and in many cases the guest is not staying with the homeowner (or renter) at all. The owner may not live on the premises, and the stay may not offer the deep cultural experience that some travellers expect.
This is why a more nuanced explanation is needed.
What is a homestay? The not so simple answer
In reality, a homestay is far more than simply staying in a spare room.
A homestay is essentially the commercialisation of the home. This commercialisation has disrupted economies throughout the world, resulted in gentrification and globalisation, and is largely anything but ‘cultural tourism’.
The sections below look in more detail at what a homestay really is.
The homestay industry
A homestay forms part of the sharing economy. Homestays represent the notion of the commercialisation of one’s home for financial benefit.
Homestays typically provide a middle-ground for tourists- they are more intimate than a hotel, but offer more of a formal setting than staying with friends and relatives.
A homestay can offer the tourist with facilities that traditional types of accommodation may not be able to provide. This might include an authentic cultural experience with those who live in the home or it could be having an entire home, and all of its facilities, to yourself.
A definition of homestay
Generally, the term homestay hasn’t received a great deal of attention in the academic literature. However, there are similar terms that have.
Two terms that reflect the notion of using your home as a business are ‘home-based enterprise’ (Di Domenico & Lynch, 2007, p. 321) and ‘commercial home enterprise’ (CHE) (McIntosh, Lynch, & Sweeney, 2011, p. 511).
According to Lynch (2005);
A ‘Commercial home’ refers to types of accommodation where visitors or guests pay to stay in private homes, where interaction takes place with a host and/or family usually living upon the premises and with whom public space is, to a degree, shared. ‘Commercial home’ therefore embraces a range of accommodation types including some (small) hotels, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs), and host family accommodation, which simultaneously span private, commercial, and social settings.
Characteristics of a homestay
Lynch (2005) goes on to identify several key characteristics of a homestay. These are;
- Family involvement
- Local community benefits
- Guest engagement with the property
- The sharing of space between guest and host
- The participation of owner-managers in the shaping of the accommodation product
- The involvement of ‘lifestyle entrepreneurs’
- The importance of gender, personal networks, social values, and family life cycle
As you can see from the list above, culture and connection between host and guest is, according to Lynch, an important part of the homestay experience. However, since this work was published in 2005, a great deal has changed. Many commentators now argue that, in a large share of the market, financial gain has become more important than host-guest interaction.
Homestay as a cultural experience
Whilst there has been a clear move away from culture being the focus and towards economic benefit, a homestay experience can be a significant cultural experience.
There are many different ways that you can experience culture through a homestay, and this is largely dependent on the set up of the homestay itself.
Inevitably, if a guest is staying in the home of a local person, who regularly interacts with the guest, then they will receive a greater cultural experience than someone who is simply paying to rent a bedroom or entire property.
Some of the cultural experiences that a tourist may receive include;
- Learning a new language
- Tasting new food and learning to cook new recipes
- Learning about the local way of life
- Learning about local history
- Exposure to the local community
- Taking part in village, nature or workplace tours
- Learning about the religion and visiting religious sites
- Taking part in local events and celebrations
Homestay as a commercial enterprise
In recent years we have witnessed monumental growth in the so called ‘sharing economy‘. The sharing economy is a socio-economic ecosystem that is built around the sharing of human, physical and intellectual resources. Also known as collaborative consumption or peer-to-peer-based sharing, the sharing economy is a concept that highlights the way in which people rent or borrow goods and services rather than buying or owning them. In the context of homestay, this represents the sharing of one’s home.
This notion of ‘sharing’ has, however, disrupted many traditional commercial operations. Hotels in many destinations now compete directly with short-term rentals and homestays for the same guests. In addition, the income potential for homestay has driven up real estate prices in many areas, meaning that local people are struggling to get on the property ladder and gentrification is taking place. This has led many cities, including Barcelona, Amsterdam, New York and Lisbon, to introduce registration schemes, night caps or licensing rules for short-term rentals.
The homestay concept has seen the rise of many budding entrepreneurs across the globe. People have transformed their homes into guesthouses, locals are offering culturally immersive tours and the wealthy have snapped up entire apartment blocks upon completion in the aim of building their Airbnb business.
Homestays come in all shapes and sizes, from sleeping on someone’s couch in a New York apartment to renting an entire island in the South Pacific. The possibilities are endless…
Where to book a homestay
Homestays occur around the world.
A homestay can be organised via apps, social media, academic institutions and more. They offer the chance to integrate yourself into local society.
Below are some of the most common ways to organise a homestay.
Homestay family
Also known as the ‘host family’, a homestay family are the people who own the house/accommodation where you’ll be staying. They provide board and lodging.
You will often find that you become close to the family, and they will have a lot to offer you in terms of local knowledge, connections and more.
Student homestay
Homestays are particularly popular with students.
For young people studying a language, international relations, business studies and other degrees, travelling abroad to immerse themselves in their studies is a huge part of the course.
Students can find a homestay through their university or college. The institution will have access to a list of host families, and will match students accordingly to families in the right area.
A homestay is a great way for students to get involved with daily life in that particular culture, or to practise the language they are learning.
Generally, a homestay is incredibly beneficial to students and an overall enjoyable experience.
Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing is a concept that really seems to have taken off since the platform launched in 2004. And the concept is simple- a home owner (or renter) allows a tourist to stay on their couch.
Despite the name, it doesn’t have to be a couch. Many hosts offer guests a bed, their own room and sometimes their own bathroom too.
When Couchsurfing, no money is supposed to change hands. Instead, the tourist repays the host with conversation, cultural exchange and companionship. Note that since 2020 the Couchsurfing platform has charged members a small subscription fee to use the service, although hosts still may not charge guests.
WWOOFing
WWOOFING stands for worldwide opportunities on organic farms. It is a form of homestay tourism, whereby the tourist works on the farm in exchange for free board.
WWOOFing has grown in recent years and is popular in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Ireland and throughout Europe. Note that in Australia, unpaid volunteer work (including WWOOFing) no longer counts towards the ‘specified work’ needed to extend a Working Holiday visa – only paid work does.
WWOOFING is also popular with budget and long term travellers as it provides the tourist with travel opportunities at a reduced cost.
Airbnb
Airbnb is an online marketplace for renting property to travellers. Founded in 2008, it now lists millions of homes worldwide and also offers experiences and services hosted by locals.
Airbnb does not own any of the properties. It simply provides a platform from which people can rent out their properties or spare rooms to guests. Prices are set by the property owners and monies are collected via the Airbnb app.
There are many different types of Airbnbs. You can rent a room in someone’s house or a whole island and everything in between. Airbnb’s ‘Room’ category specifically showcases private rooms in homes where the host lives on site – the closest equivalent to a traditional homestay.
Other examples of homestay platforms
There are many ways that a homestay can be arranged. In addition to the platforms discussed above, the following companies offer homestays or private home rentals:
- Vrbo (which absorbed HomeAway and FlipKey)
- Booking.com (which offers apartments and homes alongside hotels)
- Homestay.com
- onefinestay
- Plum Guide
- Third Home
- Outdoorsy (campervans and RVs)
Homestay app
There is an organisation called Homestay.com that specialises in arranging homestays for tourists around the world, with a functional app to facilitate this.
Available on iOS and Android, the platform lists tens of thousands of homestays in well over 100 countries. Users can search for a homestay, read reviews from previous guests and contact the host family before booking, whether they are travelling for study, work or leisure.
Homestay advantages and disadvantages
As with any type of accommodation, there are both advantages and disadvantages of a homestay. Some of these are outlined below.
Advantages of a homestay
- Ability to immerse yourself into a different culture
- Free meals
- Chance to taste new food
- Educational benefits- learn about the culture, religion and way of life
- Opportunity to live ‘like a local’
- Save money
Disadvantages of a homestay
- Limited freedom- curfews, religious requirements, household preferences
- Limited choice of location
- Safety concerns
What is a homestay? To conclude
Homestays range from culturally immersive stays with local families to commercial rentals with little host contact. By weighing up the advantages and the disadvantages, travellers can decide whether this type of accommodation suits them. As an important part of the sharing economy, homestay tourism is likely to remain a significant part of the accommodation sector for years to come. Travel professionals who package homestays and community-based stays for clients may also find the guide to becoming an independent travel agent useful.
Homestay tourism: FAQs
Below are answers to some of the most common questions about homestay tourism.
What is a homestay?
A homestay is a type of accommodation where a guest stays in a private home, often with the host family living on site. Homestays range from culturally immersive stays with local families to commercial room or whole-home rentals.
How is a homestay different from a hotel?
A homestay is usually more personal than a hotel, with shared living space and interaction with the host. Hotels offer standardised services, while homestays offer local knowledge and a more informal setting.
Where can you book a homestay?
Homestays can be booked through platforms such as Homestay.com, Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, through universities and language schools, or through community-based tourism organisations.
What are the advantages of a homestay?
Advantages include cultural immersion, home-cooked food, local knowledge, language practice and often lower costs than hotels.
What are the disadvantages of a homestay?
Disadvantages can include less privacy and freedom, house rules or curfews, limited choice of location and potential safety concerns if the host is not properly vetted.
Further reading on homestays and the sharing economy
Recommended books on this topic:
- The Business of Sharing: Making it in the New Sharing Economy
- Tomorrow 3.0: Transaction Costs and the Sharing Economy
- Airbnb Listing Hacks – The Complete Guide To Maximizing Your Bookings And Profits
- Optimize YOUR Bnb: The Definitive Guide to Ranking #1 in Airbnb Search
Useful books on the topic include What’s Yours is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy (Tom Slee), Platform Economics: Rhetoric and Reality in the “Sharing Economy” (Cristiano Codagnone et al.), The Future of Airbnb and the ‘Sharing Economy’ (Jeroen Oskam) and The Airbnb Story (Leigh Gallagher). If you found this article helpful, the following posts may also be of interest:
- The sharing economy in the tourism industry
- Airbnb explained
- What is Couchsurfing?
- What is WWOOFing?
- Types of accommodation in tourism
- What is cultural tourism?
