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New Startup makes Budget
Travel in China a Reality just in time for
World Expo 2010
SHANGHAI, CHINA - May 7,
2010 - A new Chinese startup company,
www.Tourboarding.com,
has created a unique opportunity for budget-minded travelers to stay
with host families in China for free, in
exchange for providing English conversation.
Hotel rooms are expensive during the World Expo from May 1 to October
31, 2010 and many are filling up quickly, so founder Ken Chen made sure
the Tourboarding.com service was ready before the World Expo starts.
More than 1500 Chinese families have already registered to host World
Expo visitors for free in their home. In exchange, the visitors agree to
speak to the host in fluent English for two hours a day, to provide
their hosts with the opportunity to practice their English language
skills.
"There are an overwhelming number of Chinese families willing to host
due to the prohibitive cost of private one-on-one English language
instruction," explained Chen.
Chen found this out for himself when he decided he wanted to travel
abroad and went to a local language school to enroll as a student.
Last year, he resigned from his post as logistics director for Nike
Sport China after 16 years in the logistics field, including a
management role at Wal-Mart, so he could travel the world. However,
he was shocked to find out that tuition at the language school was a
minimum of $3000 for two months study and private tutors charged $30 per
hour. Chen realized this cost was prohibitively high for most
Chinese families, given that a full time IT professional in Shanghai
earns approximately $600 per month. He also knew many visitors to China
were looking to cut costs wherever possible, and they would prefer
options to finding a hostel or renting a house in China.
That was the inspiration behind the Tourboarding concept, which offers
an innovative way for travelers to leverage their language skills in
exchange for airport pickup and dropoff, free accommodation with a
host family, and two meals a day.
Tourboarding also offers travelers a more authentic travel experience,
giving them the opportunity to live with and interact with locals and
their families, rather than staying cooped up in a hotel eating at a
hotel restaurant.
There are other options offered as well, including paid home stays and
language lessons in exchange for the host serving as a tour guide.
Many host families have posted pictures of themselves and their homes on
the Tourboarding website. Foreign travelers who have joined come from a
range of backgrounds, including students, teachers, doctors, engineers,
management consultants, and hedge fund analysts. The Chinese hosts who
have registered on the Tourboarding site already have basic English
skills so the foreign travelers do not have to know Chinese.
According to Chen's research, 100 million young Chinese are eager to
improve their spoken English.
Chen partnered with Nuno Zhang, an IT expert, to create the Tourboarding
site, which they plan to expand to include hosting opportunities for
approximately 15 more countries. Those seeking more
information may visit:
www.tourboarding.com
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