2012 World Hostel Conference (GoMio)

I'm starting my trek towards Jerusalem in an hour, and should be there by tomorrow afternoon.

If anyone is interested in getting together for a Hostel Management forum community meetup, let's meet at the Abraham Hostel bar on Monday the 5th at 16:00. Maybe we can grab a felafel together before the opening reception? See you there!

The last round of presentations has come to a close, and the final events of the conference are underway.

One thing that really stood out for me today was the success stories of the hostel networks in Germany and Israel. These two organizations in particular are great examples of how hostels can help each other by working together, help the local communities by creating responsible tourism, and affect change in the touristic landscape of their regions by combining their efforts. These organizations have both managed to set a lot of gears in motion through their efforts and influence their markets in positive ways. Either one would serve as a good role model for any other countries interested in creating a network of hostels.

Of course a key aspect of this conference (or any conference, for that matter) is the networking opportunity that it presents. Getting to meet so many industry colleagues face to face is the best way to stimulate cooperation, trust, and solidarity among hostels. I think some people arrived intending to simply listen and learn, but found they had a lot of valuable things to teach and share as well. The opposite was also true, with veteran managers taking lessons from new friends. Everyone wins when we open a dialogue.

Please don’t let the connections drop off just because the conference is over! Keep in contact with each other. Use each other as resources. I also encourage all of you to continue that open exchange here in the Hostel Management forum. Please post your questions, offer your tips, share your experiences, and generally keep the positive momentum going! For anyone who couldn’t make it to the conference, please take this as an opportunity to jump in on the networking and get involved too. The more we support each other the stronger our industry will be. Let’s all move forward together.

I attended the conference. You are welcome to PM me with any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

The presentations themselves should be posted soon on Gomio's website, so you will be able to download anything that you missed as well.

Their site currently says:

Our GoMio Team is currently working on the post conference process which includes providing the speakers' presentations, videos, and photos. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter, and connect with fellow participants of Gomio's World Hostel Conference 2012 in Jerusalem.