People from all around the world drop in for a day or two and share their lives
The Basics
- Servas operates a network of Servas hosts worldwide who welcome Servas travellers of every race, colour, creed and nationality to their homes in order to foster cultural exchange and understanding. Travellers are normally hosted for up to two nights, unless hosts offer to extend. Servas hosts offer accommodation only to Servas travellers. A Servas traveller need not be a Servas host, and vice versa.
Servas Membership
- Servas Membership is at the Servas Group/Chapter level. The Servas Group, Servas Australia has over 700 members with over 300 host addresses. World-wide Servas has over 15,000 members.
- Members join Servas using our international membership system www.servas.org.
- Members joining Servas Australia pay a $25 annual membership fee which supports Servas Australia and Servas International programs. We hope members join Servas because they recognise that Servas with it’s aims and values is worth supporting and being involved with. Servas is not about cheap travel although that is a benefit of travelling and staying with Servas.
- All new members of Servas world-wide are interviewed to confirm that they respect the aims and values of Servas and understand the roles of Hosts and Travellers. Servas is a trust-based organisation as we trust members who visit us in our homes.
Travelling with Servas
- Travelling with Servas requires a valid Letter of Introduction (LOI) that travellers provide to prospective host when they are requesting accommodation. In Australia the cost of the LOI is included in the membership fee but members planning to travel are still required to request their local Servas Travel Officer to approve their LOI with an electronic stamp (eStamp).
Hosting with Servas
- Servas hosts undertake to provide two nights’ accommodation in their own homes to Servas travellers, so that they may learn something of each other's culture, interests, occupations, activities and lifestyle, and so lay the foundations for lasting friendships. The service they offer is entirely voluntary and free of any charge, and they are under no obligation to accept prospective travellers. The accommodation provided is what the host can provide and can be quite basic.
- Servas has over 350 host addresses throughout Australia, spread fairly widely. About 400 overseas travellers visit annually from many different countries. Many hosts want more travellers to visit them as it is an enriching experience for them to have people from all around the world drop in for a day or two and share their lives. Australian hosts are welcome to visit other Australian hosts without having traveller status or a letter of introduction.