Safe and friendly: Belarusians have created a unique travel app

During difficult times, the additional hurdle can feel exponentially more burdensome. Every traveler faces restrictions caused by the coronavirus response, but for additional marginalized groups or travelers who prioritize personal safety, convenient and safe travel takes on new meaning. Especially for those who are very concerned about safety, Belarusians have developed an application that will satisfy all requirements. The publication spoke about this in more detail. Forbes.

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Belarusians Viktor and Sergei Semenyak developed the main competitor to Airbnb - the MyFriendlyHost application, which allows you to rent housing from friends or friends of friends. The app idea and sales efforts came from Victor, while Sergey, a software developer, wrote the code for MyFriendlyHost. Their story is impressive and demonstrates that the goodwill of a few can greatly impact the needs of many.

Airbnb became popular to a large extent because it gave the appearance of superiority over a traditional hotel. Airbnb properties generally offered more space, better amenities, and more local information. However, there are some common issues that have led to the decline in Airbnb's popularity, namely illegal rentals, untrustworthy hosts, false advertisements, and last-minute cancellations. COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of the travel industry.

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The new travel app myfriendlyhost.com helps travelers looking for a safe vacation rental. This service is unique, the app has partnered with Facebook and leverages the power of the network to provide secure rental housing. Unlike Airbnb, where the traveler almost always rents accommodation from strangers, myfriendlyhost.com creates a network where tourists can rent accommodation from "friends."

The app allows users to see if they are connected through friends with service providers. This gives a sense of security as the landlords are already in a safe circle of friends. No booking fees, no intermediaries and only direct communication, the traveler can see not only the list of friends, but also mutual friends who can be the owner of the property.

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On the other hand, the service provider, who often owns the property, frustrated by Airbnb and its policies (such as charging high commissions), turned to alternatives like booking.com and flipkey.com. While myfriendlyhost.com is a safe alternative to Airbnb, it also boasts of being more B2B than strictly B2C oriented, as the property owner is also concerned about the safety and liability of the tenant.

The app has a Facebook page with the tagline “Safe Vacation Rentals from Facebook Friends.” In a world where reviews are king for many businesses, a friend's recommendation is one of the newest and most powerful marketing tools.

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