A new Airbnb-style booking website for naturists promises to give those who enjoy shedding their clothes while relaxing better options for accommodation while on vacation. NaturistBnB offers over 200 properties worldwide for those who wish to go nude, with more being added all the time as the word is spreading.
Finnish couple, Petri and Minna Karjalainen, were inspired to launch the website because of their own experiences. The travel-lovers found it challenging to find vacation accommodation suitable for those practising a naturist lifestyle. This meant that they ended in the most obvious places, like nudist resorts, and didn't have the freedom they had when travelling "textile," or fully-clothed. Then they became Airbnb hosts themselves, having used the service around the world for their own travels.
"What is a bit tricky with Airbnb is that we have to stay clothed while we have guests in our house," Petri tells Lonely Planet. "We did try to list as “clothing optional” or “nudist” at Airbnb, but our bookings fell down dramatically. Then we started remembering our naturist holidays and we realised that there is no Airbnb alternative for naturist people. If there was, it would be a fantastic opportunity to travel anywhere and enjoy social nudism with a local host."
Petri believes that naturism is a growth area in the travel world, and says that there are several indicators showing increasing demand. "More resorts are being established, more nude beaches are being introduced in new countries and we are now offering a new channel for people to have more opportunities for naturist travel," he says. "We have received hundreds of emails from people around the world to encourage, congratulate and even thank us. We receive thousand of unique users every day, with the highest peak being 15k a day."
"This has been achieved with almost zero marketing budget, so it looks like there is a social demand for this type of service. More and more people are trying it for the first time this year, and once they have tried it, many will get hooked into it."
NaturistBnB has listings, tips and articles around naturist holidays and you can check it out here.
