Kusaidia wageni kusafiri kama wakazi

Airbnb ilianza kama njia ya bei nafuu kwa wasafiri kukaa katika nyumba ya mtu mwingine. Wazo hilo lilianza kutekelezwa kadiri wenyeji wengi zaidi walivyotoa sehemu mbalimbali ulimwenguni na kuchangamana na wageni.

Vyumba husherehekea utamaduni huu: Ni nzuri kwa wageni ambao wanapendelea faragha kidogo, lakini bado wanataka kukutana na mtu mpya na kujionea eneo hilo kama mkazi. Wakiwa na chumba, wageni wana chumba chao cha kulala katika nyumba, pamoja na ufikiaji wa sehemu ambazo zinaweza kutumiwa pamoja na wengine. 

Hivi ni baadhi ya vidokezi vya kuwasaidia wageni wajisikie huru kuweka nafasi na kukaa nawe.

Unaweza kuwasaidia wageni wajue eneo lako kwa kuunda kitabu cha mwongozo cha tangazo lako. Hii ni njia rahisi ya kuwapa wageni mapendekezo.

Wenyeji wengi pia hutoa mapendekezo ana kwa ana. Reed, ambaye anakaribisha wageni kwenye chumba jijini Philadelphia pamoja na mke wake, mara nyingi huwaalika wageni wajiunge nao kwenye chakula cha jioni cha Jumapili. Anazungumzia "maeneo ya kupendeza ambayo si ya kitamaduni," kama vile mgahawa wa kitongoji ulio na kuta za vitabu.

Wakati mwingine Reed huwaalika wageni kucheza dansi ya salsa, mojawapo ya burudani anazozipenda. "Tumeenda na wageni kadhaa kwenye eneo la Kilatini ili tuliwashe kidogo," anasema. Baadhi ya wageni, anaongeza, "ni kama watoto wetu sasa."

Guests may book your room because your host profile creates a sense of familiarity, which can help guests feel comfortable staying with you.

Nicola, who hosts a room in Fitzroy, Australia, shares that she appreciates new cultures and cuisines. She’s found that some guests like to “hang out and feel like they’ve got a home here.”

She and her brother, a renowned chef in Melbourne, sometimes offer to cook meals with guests. “We’ve got a commercial kitchen, so they can roll out the pasta or the panini breads,” she says.

One group felt so at ease that they did yoga in Nicola’s living room. “It was great that they really enjoyed the space,” she says. Noting their interest in exercise, Nicola took them to a park nearby, where they spent an afternoon climbing trees and talking about other places to explore.

Think about how you’d like to interact with guests, and let them know what you prefer. If you’re up for socializing, your openness may lead to meaningful connections.

Garth, a host in Auckland, New Zealand, says welcoming guests allows him to spend more time with people from other cultures without traveling. He thought, “Let’s bring the people to me.”

One of Garth’s most memorable moments as a host happened with guests visiting from France. The mother asked if her son could watch him tinker in his garage workshop. “He thought everything I was doing was cool,” Garth says.

So Garth came up with a project they could do together. “We made a little boat, and we painted it,” he says. “It was really lovely, because he didn’t speak English, but we had this shared language.”

You can get more hosting stories and tips by joining your local Host Club. These clubs are run by and for hosts, and offer in-person and virtual meetups, ongoing support, and Airbnb news and product updates.

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.