For years, the International Visitors Council of Greater Cincinnati has placed visitors from around the world with families and individuals in our community. Greater Cincinnati is known worldwide for its hospitality and the friendliness of its people, and few opportunities advance the goal of helping international visitors better understand the US than introducing them to the hospitality of its citizens.

For short-term visitors this may take the form of dinner hospitality in a family's home or with the host in a local restaurant. For longer-term visitors, this often takes the form of a homestay involving living with the family for days or weeks. Visitors have consistently found the hospitality/homestay experience to be among the most rewarding aspects of their programs. Many visitors have voiced a tremendous appreciation for the opportunity to experience everyday life first hand from the inside of an US American household or to dine with real Americans.

When arranging the hospitality/homestay experience, IVC tries to match the visitor and the volunteer host via some common interest areas; i.e., the hosts have lived in the visitor's country, speak a common language, have mutual professional interests, or are interested in the same kind of cultural events. However, the main criteria for hosting is simply the willingness of the hosts to share time with someone new and entertain guests as one would do for good friends.

Dinner Hospitality
A volunteer family or individual hosts visitors for dinner. Oftentimes, dinner hospitality will be provided in the host's home, but occasionally visitors will dine at a restaurant with the host.

Cultural Hospitality
A volunteer accompanies an international visitor to a cultural activity or event. The visitor usually gains additional insight into the community by seeing the city with the assistance of "a local."

Home Hosting
Visitors live in the spare bedroom of a volunteer's home. Generally, the visitor will take morning and evening meals with the family and may accompany the family to events and activities (i.e. a child's soccer game or school concert).

For more information about the IVC's hospitality services, please contact us

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