Dubai: Couchsurfing — a form of free lodging in people’s homes when travelling abroad — has gained popularity in Dubai due to the country’s large expatriate population.
Couchsurfing is the act of sleeping overnight in someone’s house for free while travelling. It is often used by those travelling on a low budget or who want to go out with residents to see the country they are visiting through their eyes.
Various online websites have been launched to facilitate communication between couchsurfers who are looking for a house to be hosted in or even offer to host tourists themselves. These websites are also used to meet up with the country’s locals to go sightseeing or simply ask for advice regarding taxi fees, restaurants and tourism locations.
Gulf News spoke to one of the popular sites couchsurfing.org which has more than six million members worldwide in more than 100,000 cities and a thriving community in Dubai. The website is based in San Francisco, America and was founded in 2004.
“Couchsurfing connects travellers across the globe, making it possible to travel anywhere in the world through the people who live there and know it best. Find people to stay with, have dinner with, or see the sights with. Couchsurfing can facilitate a cultural exchange between the host and the traveller and it allows travellers to experience a city through the eyes of a local,” said Jennifer Billock, Couchsurfing’s Director of Community.
There are more than 9,500 couchsurfing members in Dubai and more than 6,500 of those members indicate on their profiles that they are available to host travelling couchsurfers.
Billock said that couchsurfing is not only about accommodation but is also about cultural exchange. Unlike hotels, it provides a non-commercial experience.
“It is a different way to experience a city than you would get by staying in a hotel. Hotels and tour companies can give you a bed or show you the sights, but they can’t make your trip truly memorable. People do that,” she added.
Ahmad Al Alami, a Dubai-based engineer who used couchsurfing during his trips to Sri Lanka and Japan, agreed saying: “During my stay at Sri Lanka I stayed with a Sri Lankan family where we cooked with each other and went out with each other. In Japan on the other hand I stayed at a Japanese student’s dorm and got to go out with him and his friends who showed me around. You do not get to hang out and meet new people when you stay at a hotel.”
He also added that though staying at others house is completely free of charge it is part of couchsurfing etiquette to present the host with a souvenir from your country as a thank you.
The Dubai Couchsurfing community is an active one and meets every Tuesday to meet other members and organise social outings.
Saeed Al Hussaini, a Palestinian, who works for a Dubai-based company, attends these events and says that the meetings helped him meet other expatriates like himself.
“The UAE is mostly compromised of expats and a lot of them don’t have any family or friends here. I work for a Dubai-based Australian company and whenever a new employee gets hired I found that within a month or two he would have many friends. I later found out that they were able to do so by attending couchsurfing events and were part of its community. It is a great way to meet new people.”
Al Hussaini has hosted three couchsurfers in his Dubai apartment and said that it was a great experience and broadened his horizons and mind set by exchanging cultures with kind strangers.
Both couchsurfers advised those interested in being hosted at someone’s house to check the person’s profile to see the feedback that other couchsurfers gave. They also recommended surfers to go for couchsurfers who were verified and vouched for.
