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gordo started this discussion 11 years 11 months ago

On one hand, the only way the perception of hostels is going to change is because of articles like this.
On the other, I cant be the only person who wanted to punch their screen when reading the line ' There are no chores required, no lockout hours or curfews, and linens and toiletries are provided...'
NO FARKING SHITE!

I guess I occasionally forget just how forgotten and maligned our industry often is. Admittedly, it is a NYT article, so hardly target market but still... I get the impression we've got a lot of work to do to raise the profile of the industry. Kudos to those who got a mention and it IS a good thing that these sorts of articles exist, its just a little disheartening that they have to exist.

Is it ever a good thing to be described as an industry as 'not as shit as you think?'

[/rant]
:p

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Josh Hostels

11 years

Interesting article... I think the last time I did chores at a hostel or got locked out during the day was over 10 years ago. :)

I don't know about that $34 billion per year industry figure that is quoted. If they are getting their statistics from Hostelworld and Hostelbookers, it probably includes a lot of hotel bookings. Or maybe they are confusing "hostels" with "youth travel". There is a lot of overlap, but they are not exactly the same.

I just saw this related article -- maybe based on the info in the NY Times:
http://2paragraphs.com/2013/02/how-a-school-trip-to-the-country-turned-i...

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gordo

11 years

I think the figure comes from StayWyse - and it includes all aspects of the industry; accommodation, tours, F&B, transport. basically young travelers spend $34 billion a year but given that accommodation and F&B are the 2 biggest ticket items, id say a fairly sizable chunk goes to hostels. hence the big players getting more and more involved.

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Rucksack Brian

11 years

In their presentation at the Gomio conference in Jerusalem, STAYWYSE said that their scope is the entire student and youth travel market, so it isn’t focused on hostels. In addition to hostels their accommodation statistics include hotels, B&Bs, university residence halls, etc. Basically, anywhere that a student or young traveler might choose to stay, all lumped in together. Their statistics on spending would also include anywhere that a student or young traveler could conceivably eat, drink, or play.

While I think the $34 billion may be an inflated number for an article on hostels, it does illustrate the point that young people represent a HUGE market outside of the traditional hotel stays for business and leisure tourists.

I'm with Gordo. It sucks that we need articles like this to change the popular perception of hostels, but it's great that they actually work to make that change.

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Josh Hostels

11 years

I agree that it's good to know that youth travel is a $34 billion industry and that these kinds of articles are beneficial. The only part of the article that looked inaccurate to me is that it makes it sound like the hostel industry is $34 billion:

According to the latest international hosteling survey — which was produced by STAY WYSE, the accommodation sector of the World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation, in collaboration with Hostelling International, Hostelworld.com, HostelBookers.com and others — the industry is now valued at $34 billion, with the global economic downturn acting as a boon.

It's conceivable that Hostelworld and Hostelbookers make more money on non-hostels than on hostels due to the higher prices of private rooms, so taking HW's total income and calling that "the hostel industry" isn't the whole story. Every time someone books a $250 hotel room on HW, that means "the hostel industry" just got bigger by the equivalent of ten $25 dorm bed bookings. :rolleyes:

The only reason I mention it is because now other writers are saying things like "How a School Trip to the Country Turned into a $34 Billion Industry", when that isn't the whole story. Youth travel may be worth $34 billion, but that also includes a large number of non-hostel accommodation...

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