Wanted: B & Bs for World Meeting visitors
Now may be the time to start to live out the dream of running a bed and breakfast.
More than a million people are expected to see Pope Francis when he visits Philadelphia in late September for the World Meeting of Families.
Many will need places to stay. Both the WMF organization and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are asking homeowners from the Delaware Valley to welcome visitors by participating in the “Host a Family” program.
“The response to the opening of registration and confirmation of the papal visit has been tremendously positive and we will need every housing option available,” said Donna Crilley Farrell, WMF executive director.
An estimated 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the WMF conference workshops; more than a million people are anticipated to join the pope and attend the “Festival of Families” program on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway the evening of Sept. 26 as well as the papal Mass that Francis will celebrate the next day.
Blocks of hotel rooms in and around Center City have been set aside for World Meeting attendees, but more visitors are anticipated than the supply of available rooms.
Those who sign up for the conferences are given first preference, said Lizanne Pando, WMF director of marketing and communications.
World Meeting officials have turned to the online global travel firm Homestay.com to help area families host visitors during the three days of conferences, from Sept. 22 to 25 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, as well as the papal visit on Sept. 26 and 27.
The organization asks residents who live within 120 miles of Philadelphia to consider opening their homes. It’s an effort to recruit 5,000 to 10,000 families to serve as hosts, Pando said.
Area residents can earn lodging fees for hosting either a single person or a family, according to Homestay. Pando said residents can charge whatever they want but the average is $50 per room per night. Homestay receives a 10 percent commission of the total booking when the guests make their reservation with a host family.
For some, the call in the Gospel of St. Matthew to “welcome the stranger” is reason enough to open their homes to visitors.
Thomas and Barbara Burke, of Lower Makefield, plan to host a family, “because we believe that as a family, it is our mission to love each other in a way that mirrors the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
The Burkes say that inviting a family from a different part of the world will help them learn about another culture and learn how to live the way Christ asked us to live.
“Each of our families will have the opportunity to share experiences about the schools our children attend, our careers, the activities our family members are involved with, the places we like to visit, the foods we eat, our faith and religious beliefs …,” Thomas Burke said.
Homestay CEO Alan Clarke said in an interview that the travel program’s concept is to connect tourists with residents willing to share their home for a few days or weeks. The company provides the homeowner with some income and a way to make new friendships while offering visitors a more enjoyable and less expensive way to travel as well as a unique way to experience another locale. It’s a concept that is growing, he said.
A core principle of the business is that it remain “people-centric,” Clarke said. “We don’t offer empty apartments.”
Clarke said that 95 percent of the tourists who have used the service to find just the right place to stay have rated the company “very good to excellent.”
“The homeowner is a gatekeeper of who can come to the house,” Clarke noted.
According to Homestay, the business started in Ireland and has grown to be available in 100 countries. It also can be used for events like the World Meeting of Families. In this case, the families who are offering their homes for the WMF sign up just for that event and their contact information is only geared to WMF participants.
In 2015, Homestay’s connection to the WMF site will begin posting information on hosts and guests seeking to find a family to accommodate them, Clarke said, so that people can check on who might make a good match. But a host’s email and other information will be hidden from prospective guests until the host decides on which person, couple or family that he or she wants to invite to stay.
People interested in hosting families can sign up through the WMF website at http://www.worldmeeting2015.org.
Willing hosts will be asked to describe their accommodations and provide photos. They also will need to fill out a questionnaire about the sex and age of people they would like to host, and whether there are prohibitions on smoking or using the kitchen. If they speak another language, that would be good to include, Pando said.
Homestay says homeowners should provide guests with a light breakfast but they do not have to provide other meals. They can specify whether they will provide vegetarian dishes, transportation to a train station or other accommodations that guests may want.
Stephanie Terry, of Downingtown, Chester County, has already signed up to serve as a hostess with her daughter, Elle, 7.
“I did sign up for a college student between age 18 and 24,” Terry said, and she specified that the person should be female. She wanted to do it to help the WMF and allow her daughter to meet someone from another region or country to learn about the person’s culture.
“I just thought it would be a nice thing to do. You don’t often see the pope,” she said.