Home exchange New Zealand- HomeLink Home Swap & House swap N.Z. & worldwide. Media

With the enormous growth of tourism in New Zealand putting pressure on local resources. Home Exchanging is emerging as a sustainable alternative to traditional travel.Home exchange means living amongst the community, not shifting the community aside and taking priority over the areas resources. It means money for the local community. With their shops and restaurants patronised, it means that local business, not global companies, are profiting from the visitors. It enables you to travel to places you want to go to without putting pressure on their local resources.
You can stay for 2 weeks or a month in New York, Paris, London or the Isle of Skye, the cost to you will be ...............Nothing!
In 1999 the WTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism was drawn up in order to foster sustainable development. However, despite the UN ratifying these, it is widely acknowledged that the code is unenforceable, with critics claiming it pays nothing but lip service to the problem.

Home Exchange however IS ethical travel

Whilst many of the tourist ills stem from the creation of accommodation (a demand that is negated by Home Exchange), issues with modern tourism do not end there. It has to be pointed out that resort living takes from the local area, but fails to give much in economic returns, with chain resorts importing goods, food, and even workers to service tourists needs. With many world resorts offering all-inclusive packages, some areas fail to benefit from the tourism which smothers their community. By contrast, Home Exchange stimulates local economic growth because a home exchange visitor is living as a local, buying local produce and patronising local restaurants.
The reality of resort-driven holidays means that irrespective of where we go from Spain to Singapore and with which hotel chain or hostel we stay, most of our travel experience is a universal standard, set against a backdrop of different landscapes.

The Home Exchange Difference

With home exchange however, you gain an understanding and insight. Nothing could be more real or provide a more genuine experience of a location than to live in a local's home and be welcomed into their community. Moreover, the locals have an experience of you too, as a real person and not just another "tourist".
HomeLink International was founded in order to create "possibilities for low budget holiday and cultural exchanges in an effort to improve mutual understanding among peoples of the world." The organisation has grown steadily with this mission for over 50 years, largely by word of mouth.
But now that word is out. With increased media awareness of HomeLink and the world of home exchange, might this travel alternative become a mainstream activity and help protect the world's most loved areas?

We encourage you to broaden your understanding of Ecotourism issues by visiting the following websites:
World Tourism Organization Green Globe 21