GLASGOW'S hospitable spirit has been proved in a new report that shows 1,260 residents in the area opened up their homes to welcome activists from around the world at COP26.
Prices for accommodation in Glasgow skyrocketed during COP26, held between October 31 and November 12, as private landlords and hotels took advantage of the sudden increase in demand.
This made it almost impossible for many activists to find a place to stay, especially those from the least privileged countries that are most affected by climate change.
But many responded to calls for help by the COP26 Homestay Network, highlighted by the press.
Data from Human Hotel has indicated that 50% of residents that helped out hosted people for free, sometimes for up to 21 days.
Another 61% had never hosted before and 91% became a host after learning about the accommodation crisis.
While 51% of guests said they couldn’t have attended COP26 without the Homestay Network.
Human Hotel worked with Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and the COP26 Coalition to create a specific platform for COP26 where locals made their spare rooms, couches or apartments available to activists and campaigners coming to COP26.
In total, 1,696 activists stayed in the homes of 1,260 locals around Glasgow.
This resulted in a total of 12,339 nights booked between 31 October and 12 November 2021.
The average price per night was 6 USD, funds generated by the Homestay Network for the upcoming COP27 housing mobilisation were 34,252 USD, and money sent directly to local hosts was 37,107 USD.
If you compare that to the average price per night in hotels and Airbnbs in that timeframe, $2,159,325 was saved by our guests collectively.
READ MORE: Glasgow AirBnb host banned from COP26 bookings after delegate's $2000 price hike
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