The last couple weeks I've been presenting and pitching Sherpa Travel Exchange to investors, potential vendors and just about anyone that will listen to me. Sometimes people have an instinctive reaction to the concept of home based lodging (housing paying guests in your primary or secondary home). The home based lodging market is a lot more than just 22 year olds backpacking around and crashing on each other's couches (ala Couchsurfing.org). This market consists of any type of lodging services provided in one's own home as opposed to a hotel, including: B&Bs, Homestays and Home Exchanges.
The market is actually a $5B+ market in the U.S. alone. With respect to B&Bs, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International cites more than 17,000 B&Bs in the U.S. generating more than $3.4B in revenue. Millions of people each year stay at B&Bs, while the owners sleep in a room nearby. Many consider B&Bs to offer a more authentic local experience than hotels. We agree. Which is why B&Bs will be a major component Sherpa - not only existing B&Bs, but enabling ordinary homeowners to create a make-shift B&B in their own homes to earn some extra cash. The B&B market niche as a whole has proven to be recession proof as money conscious travelers seek more affordable alternatives to boring, sterile and expensive hotel rooms.
I did a quick scan of Craiglist yesterday and found more than 500 new listings posted that were advertising rooms for rent by the day in someones home. Yes, there are lots of people that want to earn a few extra bucks by taking in paying guests. For many of these people it's a better alternative to getting a full-time roommate. But, for all the great things you can do on Craigslist, it lacks important peer to peer reviews of hosts and guests, online booking, background records and other critical pieces of information most people would require to feel comfortable running a make-shift home based hotel/B&B. We are creating some exciting innovations in this regard. Stay tuned...
Russ Hearl
Head Sherpa & Co-Founder
Sherpa Travel Exchange
601 Van Ness Ave, Suite E-208
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-997-9925 Google Voice
russ.hearl@staysherpa.com
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