Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Village Homestay Global Network?
The village homestay global network is a co-ordinated project aimed at bringing financial independence into villages around the world, creating new understanding between diverse cultures and enriching and empowering the disadvantaged.

What is a "village"?
A village is a small community of people who share a unique culture that has been retained over the generations. It does not matter if that culture is in Holland, Ireland, Tanganyika or Japan as long as this cultural integrity has been maintained. In special cases the village homestay can be extended to a single home or farm (such as a traditional Boer farm in South Africa or a Mexican home in Rio where the core cultural issues are retained. It is the role of the agent in that country to identify and decide on the selection.

What is the role of activities, traditions and cultural history?
Critical to the success of a village homestay is the variety and uniqueness of activities that guests can enjoy. For example, teachers enjoy visiting the local school to see how the children are taught; many female guests enjoy joining the women of the village in traditional activities like mat making or food preparation; many men enjoy helping the male villagers overcome problems like redirecting water or establishing effective sewerage systems. Family activities like walks, snorkelling, story telling, song and dance or participating in cultural activities are pivotal to the successful selection. If there is a historical element like old village buildings, historical sites or fables the importance of the village to potential guests is dramatically improved.

Who goes on village homestays?
The profile of our guests rarely includes backpackers. Our guests normally include families, elderly men and women and single women of all ages. Very few single men tend to go on village homestays. The guests are normally very interested in learning about other cultures and will often contribute financially in other ways to the benefit of the village - for this reason we have established village funds to assist the community.

Is the Village Homestay Global Network a non-profit charity?
No. The agents appointed to represent a geographic region can expect to earn very good returns on their investment. They will get to know the hosts at their participating villages on a personal level and have the satisfaction of being part of their financial empowerment. In simple terms the project is founded on a "win-win" basis.

Why should I join the Village Homestay Global Network as an agent in a geographic region?
The Village Homestay Global Network (VHGN) has a proven track record and works with several tour and travel groups involved in ecotourism (or sustainable tourism) around the world. VHGN also looks after all the marketing and bookings in your geographic region using their total dominance of the Internet search engines as a primary tool to promote village homestays in your region. VHGN looks after the web site promoting village accommodation and all associated costs. As an agent your major role is to ensure that the best villages and hosts within those villages are identified and enrolled. When you become a franchisee the Village Homestay Global Network provides you with guidelines on how to identify these villages. Every month you will get a payment deposited into your bank account based on a percentage of the bookings made through the villages in your geographic region. From experience we can confidently state that if the hosts and villagers are friendly the referral business will grow exponentially.

How long has the Village Homestay Global Network been in operation? 
The project started in Fiji in 2003 and has now spread to a range of new geographic regions.

How do I become an agent in the Village Homestay Global Network?
Simply send us an email outlining your knowledge and background of village homestays in your region. (See the bottom of this page). Before you can become an agent you will have to sign legal agreements with the Village Homestay Global Network.

Send your enquiry to Village Homestay Global Network