Everything I’ve written to this point is, of course, only useful if we broaden our concept beyond the couchsurfing phenomenon, which is looking increasingly unlikely. With that in mind, I want to look at some possible feature angles and share some of my own ideas, but I’ve broken them up into two posts so people can give feedback on individual sections.
While it is tempting to look only at the social side of couchsurfing and understanding it as yet another clever use of the internet to bring people together, it’s important to consider the effect it has had on the billion-dollar hostel industry as the traditional port of call for younger/tighter-budget travelers. A recent article from Reportage Online does not see it necessarily as a threat to the hostel’s survival, but certainly envisages a decline in hostels’ share in the backpacker market (ideally to be replaced by the rise of the more lucrative “flashpacker”).
Beyond the obvious financial appeal of a free bed, I think it’s important that we try to understand what the appeal is in organizing travel socially rather than by more traditional commercial models. Also the extent to which hostel and other budget travel organizations (e.g. YHA, Contiki) have attempted to network socially to combat or replicate the success of couchsurfing, why they have done this and whether their success has been comparable.
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