How to make Couchsurfing more attractive for hosts

Meatless breakfast on Good Friday



The current host-traveler ratio on Couchsurfing
Most of the Couchsurfing introduction events such as Couchsurfing Orientation Day as well as several books on Backpacking around the World have been extremely inspiring. Unfortunately the focus of the media as well as private events is too much on the travelling and surfing part. People are rather interested in finding a host in their travel destination than being a host themselves. I think our common sense and the original idea of Couchsurfing is paying forward and this means we take and give a couch.

It will add a lot more balanced information to the Couchsurfing idea if we also present the aspects and advantages of hosting. As a New Member Welcome greeter I have to scroll down very deeply past the travelling or non-hosting member until I can find a host. Then I'm disappointed again because even these people are preparing for their next big trip. What actions can we take to improve this imbalance between hosts and couch seeker?


How can we improve host-surfer ratio?
Many new signups have empty profiles, do not host or are still on travels; very few new hosts are in sight. This can be very discouraging for hosts and travellers alike.
One of the reasons why the host/surfer ratio on Couchsurfing is so imbalanced is: Couchsurfing Inc as well as the media emphasises a lot more on the travelling than the hosting part.

Every TV show, media article, TV documentary, Couchsurfing's own advertisement only presents how much fun it is for a traveller to surf a couch for free. If the media could emphasise more on the hosting part, a lot of hosts will be more inclined to join Couchsurfing for a longer period. Articles in magazines and newspapers, TV programs and even talkshows about the hosting aspect of couchsurfing will make the Couchsurfing idea much more attractive for those people who would like to enjoy hosting.



The many advantages of hosting over surfing

1. You can stay in the comfort of your own home and social environment while the world comes to you and open your eyes
2. Cultural exchange in your own four walls and possible friendships
3. Language practice with native speakers without leaving your friendly environment
4. Teach, learn and share without the hardships of travelling. We may think of parents with kids or very busy people who cannot always afford to travel
5. Valuable help with housework or repairs. These services are very costly nowadays
6. Nice gifts, invitation to a restaurant or home-made food from a foreign culture
7. Hosting is still a lot cheaper and less stressful than traveling

Many people think that hosting is a burden and the host gives, the surfer takes. In real life it is always a two-way communication, a surfer can treat the host to meals and drinks, buy groceries, help in the household, enjoy their company, give them an inspiring experience, you can travel the world without leaving your house and many things more. Hosting is still a lot less expensive than travelling, even in cases where guests don't give too much of a material contribution. Beyond all the presents, good manners, help in the household there is something even more precious: People open up themselves towards a person they will never have a chance to meet on other occasions.


How to minimise unpleasant surprises with guests
It is never pleasant to hear less than positive comments, especially if we would like to promote hosting. There are some surfers who are rude, disrespectful towards the host and their property, abusive, sponging or even dangerous. A new host may want to contact other hosts in their cities regarding reading profiles(interests,teach, learn, share, types of people they enjoy etc), reading into references, how to evaluate positive and negative references alike, photos etc. Last but not least, the best reference is always prior correspondence, skype and phone calls as well as posts in groups

Point nr. 2 of this page is part of CS FAQ and very often used by less reciprocal surfers to pressure their hosts. In fact, this is only one page of the FAQ which is written by ambassadors based on the TOU. Several threads in groups(Ambassador archives) suggest that the Terms of Use is a commercial contract with grey areas to work around. I have never charged for the couch itself, but asking for donations or an act of thanks such as help in the household, groceries or invitation to dinner has never posed any problems. When in doubt, there is always a way to contact the Membership Dispute and Safety Team.


Conclusion
It is very unfortunate that Couchsurfing Terms of Use are totally in favour of surfers and travelers. New Welcome Greeters have a great potential to motivate the joys of hosting travelers. Official and inofficial events like Teach, Learn and Share Day have a great impact on how to make Couchsurfing more attractive for hosts. Let us educate future surfers and new members to be considerate to their host, so their visit will remain a lasting positive experience in their memories.

UPDATE 5 July 2014:  In late November 2011, Couchsurfing has become a for-profit B-Corporation Basically I have nothing against it except that they continue to extend their services to surfers only. Customer service is poor and the website poorly maintained, many documents written by ambassadors have been removed by the new management. CS has grown considerably in numbers and this also results in new members who are only looking for a free place to stay and no strings attached. People still make friends on CS but there are other channels than the CS website to communicate with each other. Asking for an act of thanks from surfers is still possible but CouchSurfing of today has a tougher stance on asking presents or labour from surfers. The New Member Welcome Team which consisted of volunteers is now non-existent and this has taken away a good opportunity for the community to assist new members.

Update November 2014
The already brittle website has been downgraded by the new management and the whole situation has worsened considerably. Many groups and events are transferred to FB, many members communicate through other media like Whatsapp, BBM, Skype and last but not least the ol' phone and email! Some groups on Couchsurfing still provide great information about what and why things happened! I still maintain my hospitality subnetwork and use the above-mentioned media....

Hans-Jürgen, Enrico's father.

Sometimes I thought that Couchsurfing was the wrong place for me because the majority of the members were under 30. Simply too young for me to come closer in real life friendships. Enrico, a nice couchsurfer from Germany wrote me a somewhat strange request. At that time I was not even aware of Couchsurfing safety precautions and that every person should have a separate profile to make the host or guest feel safe. In case of problems it is also easier to report a separate profile to the MDST(Member Dispute and Safety Team), a team I just learnt about later.

Enrice wrote me a strange request for his 48 y/o father who was not good with computers and didn't speak English very well. Enrico's request was elaborate and showed very clearly that he bothered to read my whole profile. I decided to host Enrico's father because he was older........

I expected a worn-out silly old man who couldn't speak a word of English and possibly could not even leave the house without being run over by a car. The doorbell rang exactly at the time as I expected him. "Well, German punctuality." I thought. Surprise...surprise...I saw a fairly young-looking and athletic man with a beard and interested lively eyes. He entered and gasped a bit as he saw the breathtaking 180 degree view of the Sydney Harbour.

We spoke German for most of the time and he quickly lost his initial reserved behaviour. He...a married man with me, a woman living alone in a small flat. But we soon found some topics about his travels in Queensland and the European background of Kirribilli. We spent a warm Sydney evening enjoying the Sydney Harbour and drinking red wine. He had so many interesting stories to tell about the time as East Germany's wall was still reality. As a customs officer he told me exactly the same stories that my neighbour and friend from East Germany told me. Touching stories and the opinion from the other side: How arrogant they found the Westies and how they have been looked down at.

His son Enrico told me that I could possibly change his life by showing him more than the usual triad: working, shopping and watching TV. Hans-Jürgen wasn't lucky with the weather because it rained nearly all day and I had to work. So we spent quite a lot of time watching TV and the German DVDs that I brought from the university library. I cooked him an Australian Bratwurst made of lamb and rosemary and he could enjoy a sweet breakfast with mango ginger jam. He was more independent than Enrico described him. During the day he walked the Harbour Bridge to the centre of Sydney, visited Aldi in North Sydney and Luna Park just on his own and took a few pictures of Kirribilli. A seemingly less spectacular experience with just a common man who started to see the world and learn at a very moderate pace.....Oh, he was an excellent guest where house rules were totally redundant. I could see that his wife had taught him everything a good guest on Couchsurfing should know:-))))) He was not a particularly rich man but he was generous. I appreciated the bottle of red wine and the yodeling mole he brought from Germany.....