StayAltered is working to reshape how tourism benefits local communities by helping independent hospitality businesses keep more of the value they create. Founded in 2019 by Evan Tzeng, the StayAltered platform connects travelers with locally owned accommodations around the world while giving hosts the tools and technology they need to grow outside of traditional online booking systems. At a time when large hotel groups and online travel agencies often capture a significant share of tourism revenue, StayAltered offers a complementary approach designed to ensure more tourism spending stays in the destinations travelers visit.
At the heart of StayAltered is a simple idea: when travelers stay with locally rooted hosts, more of their spending circulates in the local economy. Independent accommodations often return far more revenue to their communities than global chains, supporting neighborhood businesses, artisans, guides, farmers, and cultural traditions.
StayAltered brings these places together into a global hospitality community. Its network includes eco-lodges, hostels, farmstays, guesthouses, and community-led accommodations across dozens of countries. Travelers might stay at places like The Yard Chiang Mai in Thailand, Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge in Panama, Casa Pancha in Mexico City, Wild Lubanzi EcoArt Backpackers in South Africa, or Podere di Maggio in Italy, each representing a unique expression of local culture and hospitality.
Through the StayAltered Guests Club, travelers earn rewards on their stays that can be spent locally, encouraging them to explore neighborhoods, restaurants, markets, and experiences beyond their accommodation. The StayAltered Hosts Collective gives hosts access to shared tools, technology, and training that help them strengthen direct bookings and deepen relationships with their guests. Together, these tools aim to create a tourism ecosystem where travelers, hosts, and communities all benefit.
The StayAltered Origin StoryÂ
StayAltered was founded in 2019 by Evan Tzeng after years spent working across hospitality, events, and cultural experiences. Throughout his career, Evan collaborated with hotels, festivals, destinations, and tourism organizations around the world. Along the way, he began noticing a persistent imbalance within the industry: travelers were increasingly seeking authentic, locally rooted experiences, yet many independent hosts struggled to compete with the scale and visibility of larger booking platforms and hotel brands.
At the same time, Evan saw how powerful independent hospitality could be. Whether it was a family-run guesthouse, a creative hostel, or a regenerative eco-lodge, these places often served as gateways to local culture and community. They connected travelers with neighborhoods, traditions, and people in ways that standardized lodging rarely could.
StayAltered grew out of the belief that these kinds of places deserved stronger tools and greater visibility. Rather than building another traditional booking platform, Evan envisioned a hospitality community that would help independent hosts collaborate, share resources, and strengthen direct relationships with their guests.
From that idea, StayAltered emerged as a global network connecting travelers with distinctive, locally owned accommodations while giving hosts access to technology, training, and collective support. The goal was simple but ambitious: help create a tourism ecosystem where independent hospitality can thrive and where travel contributes more meaningfully to the places people visit.
How StayAltered Is Making A Positive Impact
StayAltered addresses one of tourism’s long-standing challenges: economic leakage. Too often, a large share of tourism revenue leaves the destination through booking platforms and internationally owned hospitality companies. By supporting independent accommodations and reducing commission-heavy intermediaries, StayAltered helps redirect more of that value back into local economies.
The platform’s community includes a wide range of stays, from eco-lodges in Malawi and Zambia to surf hostels in Portugal, community homestays in Nepal, cultural guesthouses in Oaxaca, and regenerative farmstays in India. Each property reflects the character of its place and contributes to the surrounding economy in ways large standardized hotels often cannot.
StayAltered’s model also rewards travelers for spending locally. Guests earn rewards from their bookings that can be used at neighborhood restaurants, shops, and experiences, encouraging them to extend their stay and deepen their connection to the destination.
For hosts, the platform provides tools that help small hospitality businesses compete in a global market. StayAltered’s technology helps hosts manage bookings, personalize guest experiences, and build stronger guest loyalty while supporting direct communication and repeat visits.
Collectively, these efforts help strengthen independent hospitality while ensuring tourism supports the cultural and economic vitality of the communities travelers come to experience.
Why the UnTours Foundation Invested in StayAltered
We invested in StayAltered because its mission aligns closely with our belief that tourism should benefit the people and places that make travel meaningful. By supporting independent hospitality businesses and helping them retain more revenue, the company is addressing a structural challenge in global tourism: ensuring that local communities share in the economic benefits of travel.
StayAltered’s network already spans more than 45 countries, bringing together a diverse group of accommodations that reflect the cultural and environmental richness of their destinations. From eco-lodges and farmstays to community hostels and heritage guesthouses, these businesses represent the kind of locally rooted tourism that we believe is essential to the future of travel.
We also see strong long-term potential in the platform’s approach. By combining community, technology, and incentives that encourage travelers to spend locally, StayAltered is building infrastructure that could help independent hospitality thrive at global scale. As the network grows, the company has the opportunity to strengthen local tourism economies while helping travelers discover places that reflect the true character of a destination.
StayAltered’s work demonstrates that technology can be used not only to simplify travel, but also to ensure that tourism creates deeper and more lasting benefits for communities around the world.
How You Can Support StayAltered
You can support StayAltered by choosing independent, locally owned places to stay when you travel and booking through their platform. Explore a global community of hostels, eco-lodges, guesthouses, and retreats, and help ensure more tourism spending remains in local hands. Every stay is a step toward a more equitable future for hospitality.
