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France or Brazil?

Start a Hostel

nicolest started this discussion 16 years 9 months ago

Hi
I'm a Canadian and I'd like to open a hostel outside of Canada. The two places that are of interest to me are France and Brazil.
Does anyone have any idea how difficult it would be as a Canadian, to immigrate to France to start a hostel? I understand that there are a few cities there that could use a couple more.
As far as Brazil goes, would that be considered a saturated market?

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Patrick

15 years

I have no hostel but plan to open one next year, near Fontainebleau, for boulderers/climbers(especially foreign climbers), hikers, visiting backpackers...

I think the French regulations can be managed if you think ahead and meet the right persons who will help you.

Basic regulations in France:

A hostel is classified as ERP (etablissement recevant du public); 5th category if less than a capacity of 100. That means safety/security and disabled access regulations.

Safety/security:
Best solution: a flat building, all rooms with direct outside access: no complex alarm system required
Medium solution: ground floor + first floor; no smoke evacuation, no need to separate the staircase
In all cases, one staff member has to be on site 24/24 (really on site)
Be carefull about electricity: drawings have to be checked by a third party (like Veritas) before professionnal installation.
Be carefull about materials you use: they have to be fire safe.
The kitchen power has to stay under 20 KW; above they are other security regulations.
My suggestion: work with an architect with proven experienced in ERP's

Disabled: you have to provide access to disabled: one or two rooms (depends on capacity) and ALL common areas; my advise: go a little bit further, ask for the "tourisme and handicap" label ... and get the related subsidies which cover the additionnal costs.

Before opening, a special security commmission will visit; they report to the mayor who gives the authorisation to open.

Get confirmation of all my informations: the firefighters (SDIS) will help you; meet them and bring drawings etc. The CDT (comite du tourisme) will help you for disabled access (and help you to get subsidies).

Another general advise would be to present yourself as "gite d'etape" if you are near a hiking trail (GR trail), this category is well known and promoted. Go meet the local mayors: in my case, the municipality will probably buy the building and rent it to me, which makes it easier from the financial side...

I hope this can help !
Does someone have other informations about opening a hostel in France ?

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nyrie

15 years

awesome! we are planning a big climbing trip over that way next year! good luck with it all and keep us posted on your progress so we can come stay. marketing to climbers is a great idea as they are a fun and social bunch.

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learner

15 years

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garyboumont

15 years

Brazil is not as difficult as you might think to do business in. Corruption exists when you want something you should not have, or when you want a document or license issued in a week where normally it should take months.

People who work in the Tax department receive large salaries like R$6,000 – R$30,000 per month (Yes, that much in a poor country) So they are no interested in losing their job.

YES, 10 years ago the system was terrible, Today things are great. I have been living in Brazil for many years without any problems…..You will make more money here as salaries are lower than the EU and prices for Hostels are similar…..

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Scotch Argus

15 years

One problem you might have in France could be customer awareness of hostels - Just had a French guy in with his family (5 people total) and he was impressed, but told me that there is no such thing as hostels in France. i.e. places where he could share a room with his whole family, with self catering facilities and everything provided that you need to cook and eat. I know that they do exist in France, but maybe people don't know of them, or they are just seen as places that young people would go to share dorms, rather than families?

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Tim

15 years

One problem you might have in France could be customer awareness of hostels - Just had a French guy in with his family (5 people total) and he was impressed, but told me that there is no such thing as hostels in France. i.e. places where he could share a room with his whole family, with self catering facilities and everything provided that you need to cook and eat. I know that they do exist in France, but maybe people don't know of them, or they are just seen as places that young people would go to share dorms, rather than families?

I don't see this as an issue at all as the majority of a hostel's customers are international travellers. People generally don't realise that hostels exist in their own country but take for granted that they exist overseas. For example I have met an Australian in Europe who was convinced that there were no hostels in Australia. He was from Mildura (pop 60,000) which has 15 hostels.

The issue should not be whether local people are aware of hostels, but that international budget travellers visit the place you want to start your hostel.

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Scotch Argus

15 years

This probably depends a lot on your hostel location and marketing. If you do start a hostel in a prime backpackers market then this is certainly true. If this market is sufficient to sustain the business, that's fine. If you're in an area that can't rely totally on the backpackers market then domestic business can really supplement your income. This is especially beneficial in the off season when the international tourist business tends to die off. Hostel awareness is high in the UK, so it's different here than other countries, but 39% of our bookings on HW in the last year came from within the UK. If you're starting a hostel, I'd certainly target this market.

By the way, I doubt Mildura is a good example, as they'd be full of domestic business there surely? The reason there's 15 hostels there isn't that there's anything much to see and do there, but that the place is full of itinerant fruit pickers, both Ozzies and internationals. I'd think most locals would just see them as picker accommodation.

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rocinhajj

15 years

As somebody who lives in Brazil, I agree with the above poster in that Brazil has lots to offer has a huge tourist industry because of carnaval and it being a good tropical climate year round.

As far as crime, both places have crime, I was pickpocketed in france so who's to say which is safer...its about being aware and SMART where ever and when ever you travel!

Zezinho

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