Hospitality Club - Definition and Overview

The Hospitality Club is the largest online hospitality service. Founded in July 2000, as of December 2004 there are over 35,000 members in 167 countries who offer each other free accommodation and help when traveling.

Membership is free, and no money is involved – guests and hosts do not pay each other. After using the service, you can comment about your host or guest. There are also Wiki-like Travel Guide sections. The club is based on the work of hundreds of volunteers around the world who believe that by bringing people together they can increase intercultural understanding and peace.

The sole condition to become a member is to provide the administrators with one's real name and address, so as to prove that one is a real individual. Potential guests can either navigate the database of hosts geographically or use the advanced search feature. An internal message-sending mechanism is then used, allowing to keep email addresses confidential and to block spam.

The duration of the stay, whether food is provided for free, for a fee or not at all, and all other conditions are agreed on beforehand to the convenience of both parties.

The project's goal is to have over a million members in the near future.

External links

• http://www.hospitalityclub.org/
• Tour (http://tour.hospitalityclub.org/tour1.htm), List of countries (http://countries.hospitalityclub.org), Experiences (http://experiences.hospitalityclub.org), Rules (http://rules.hospitalityclub.org), Forum (http://forum.hospitalityclub.org), Chat (http://chat.hospitalityclub.org)
• Hospitality club members on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Hospitality_club_members_on_Wikipedia)

Also see: Pasporta Servo, Servas Open Doors