Editing A brief history of hospitality exchange networks

'''[[Hospitality exchange]] networks''' have been around for a while.

=== Non-profit networks ===
* [http://www.servas.org/ Servas] is the oldest hospitality exchange organization. Setup in 1948 by Bob Luitweiler, it was originally called 'PeaceBuilders'. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servas_Open_Doors read more] - [[Servas]]
* [https://www.hospex.org Hospex] was the first Internet based hospitality club, established back in 1992. Not active anymore.
* [https://www.bewelcome.org BeWelcome] was started in 2007. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeWelcome read more]
* [http://www.globalfreeloaders.com Global Free Loaders]
* [https://www.trustroots.org Trustroots.org], started in Dec 2014. Non-profit and open source.

=== Commercial general networks ===
* [http://www.couchsurfing.org CouchSurfing] was started by Casey Fenton in 2003 and is currently the largest hospitality exchange network. Also the term "''couch surf''" has been around for decades, it used to mean staying on friends' couches. [[CouchSurfing]] is credited with changing the meaning to include international hospitality exchange. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couchsurfing read more] 
* [http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club] is the successor to Hospex and Travelhoo, founded in 2000 by Veit Kühne and grown after merging with the Hitch Hikers Database, a global site based in Lithuania which originally had a dispute with Veit who copied parts of their website. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality_club read more] - [[Hospitality Club]]
* [http://www.belodged.com BeLodged]
* [http://www.stay4free.com Stay 4 Free]
* [https://www.tripping.com/ Tripping]
* Horizon [http://www.horizonapp.co/] - Hospitality Exchange within your own networks (friends, friends of friends, and people in your communities)


=== Specialized networks ===
* [https://dachgeber.de/ Dachgeber] (a still paper based, mostly german network for cyclists)
* [http://www.gigswap.org Gig Swap]
* [https://www.warmshowers.org Warm Showers] (hospitality network for cyclists)
* [http://www.wwoof.org Organic Farming]<small><sup>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF wiki]</sup></small>
* [https://www.helpx.net/ HelpX.net] (help exchange network)
* [https://www.workaway.info/ Workaway] (work in exchange for hospitality)
* [http://www.volunteersbase.com/ Volunteersbase] (non-profit work exchange for hospitality) 

== References ==
* More about [http://www.hospitalityguide.net hospitality networks].
* Graham, G. Scott (2015). [https://www.amazon.com/Work-Exchange-A-Handbook-Hosts-ebook/dp/B00XRXR4QU/ Work Exchange: A Handbook for Hosts] (Kindle ed.). Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
* [[Academic research about Hospitality Exchange]]

Organisational critique
* on [http://opencouchsurfing.org/ CouchSurfing]

=== Comparison lists ===
* [https://www.bewelcome.org/wiki/hospitality_exchange_comparison_table Comparison table by BeWelcome]
* [https://ideas.trustroots.org/comparison-of-hospitality-exchange-platforms/ Comparison table by Trustroots Foundation]


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[[Category:Hospitality exchange networks]]