COUCHSURFING AS A MODERN WAY OF DESTINATION EXPLORING

Abstract

Purpose – The accelerated lifestyle has led to changes in the way of traveling. The development of technology and the internet has created the opportunity for online contact with people from all over the world, so we can say that traveling has not been this easy and affordable so far. People choose shorter trips, meet the locals, learn about their culture and customs. The paper looks for the benefits of using the Couchsurfing network and its aim is to present the motivation of respondents from former Yugoslav countries to use the network during travel, as well as to host travelers at home. Methodology – The questions for the questionnaire were acquired from the research done by Liu (2012), while the authors entered the offered answers based on a review of the Couchsurfing.com site. Couchsurfing users received online questionnaires via private message and through groups. The questionnaire was also sent through Facebook private messages and posted in private groups. Findings – Based on the results, it is concluded that the dominant motive for using Couchsurfing during the trip is to get to know the local population, culture and customs, as well as hosting and keeping company to travelers visiting this region. Contribution – The social contribution of this paper emphasizes the motives of the Couchsurfing users from the former Yugoslav countries for traveling and hosting travelers. New research can be expanded to the level of Europe or separated for the mentioned countries.