It could be a new frontier for tourism, and it already is, at least in part. “Zero-cost” holidays based on the home-to-home exchange formula are attracting more and more travelers. A private platform called HomeExchange says this and predicts 1.1 million accommodation reservations for 2024. This is a form of accommodation where two parties agree to offer each other family accommodation for a certain period of time without any exchange of money. Defined as “house swapping” in English, the event is based on a mutual exchange of accommodation between two hosts: two travelers stay in each other’s homes for the duration of the holiday, rent-free and with the promise to return the keys. at the end of the holiday. HomeExchange announced the number of holiday home exchanges in the first days of 2024: 46 thousand; This is a promising trend for the rest of the year, when 1,194,500 booked stays are expected.
The company emphasizes that this phenomenon is also growing among Italian tourists: 2,400 citizens planned an exchange using this method, and a total of 51,500 accommodation reservations have been made by the end of 2024. The Italian cities where the greatest influx of travelers “changing homes” are expected are Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and Turin. According to HomeExchange, the regions where more holiday home exchanges will occur include Lazio, Tuscany, Lombardy, Veneto and Sicily.
The Seattle company aims to consolidate results among its members by leveraging a model without financial logic to make holidays more responsible and accessible for everyone. The goal is to reach 200 thousand members this year. According to the specialist company, eight out of ten members have moved house at least once. In 2024, more help may come from artificial intelligence, which is useful in making the platform more efficient and reducing search times for travelers from all over the world.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
