Couchsurfing travelers experience analisis. Case study Tulcán

Abstract:

Recently, the development of communication technologies and social media has ease to produce and share on line content among people (Mendes, Biz, Gándara, 2013). Thus, within the tourism industry, travelers networks have enable to travel and get likeable experiences. One of these networks is Couchsurfing (CS), which is stablished as a travelers system that provides hosting services worldwide. The objective of this research was to analyze travelers experiences that used CS and visited the city of Tulcán. This research is part of an exploratory qualitative analysis that analyzed 34 travelers’ opinions that arrived to the destination of Tulcán and stayed with two different hosts. The qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS ti. assisted the information interpretation process. Hospitality categories were determined by using a deductive and inductive focuses. Research results demonstrated that CS could produce positive social impacts related to hospitality and eventually contribute to destination image. Results show that CS could be an important window to hospitality, as it generates a positive experience atmosphere between locals and travelers. Finally, it is important to consider future studies that can compare hospitality perceived by travelers in different lodging establishments, other destinations, hosts perceptions and travelers typologies.

Año de publicación:

Keywords:

Fuente:

google